17/06/2009

The British Government aims to reduce piracy by 70% in the next year, according to Lord Carter’s long awaited final Digital Britain Report. The Government will henceforth treat intellectual property piracy for profit as theft and offenders as criminals.

The Government is empowering media regulator Ofcom to reduce illegal file sharing by notification of illegal activity and, for repeat offenders, a court-based process of identity release and civil action. If these two methods are tried and failed, the Government will enable technical measures like protocol blocking and bandwidth reduction.

Key industry figures however were not very optimistic about the target being met on time. UK Film Council Chair Stewart Till said, “The Government has set an aggressive target of a 70% reduction in piracy over a year. We welcome its ambition but feel that, if these targets are to be met, tough deterrence schemes will need to be implemented to ensure that higher broadband speeds do not lead to a colossal increase in illegal file-sharing.”

British Video Association Director General Lavinia Carey said, “We are disappointed that the report recommends that the technical measures such as bandwidth squeezing are only to be introduced after notice sending has been shown to fail and after further consultation.

"The 2009 Digital Entertainment Survey indicates that simply sending warning letters would deter less than a third of those who illegally file-share, meaning the Government is set to fall short of its target to reduce online copyright theft by 70-80% in two to three years. If the Government is serious about meeting that target they must take effective action now.”