NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] UK ISPs agree to share info (and revenue) on suspected file sharers
------- Forwarded Message From: David Farber <dave@farber.net> To: "ip" <ip@v2.listbox.com> Subject: [IP] UK ISPs agree to illegally file-share their users' records Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:24:45 -0400 Begin forwarded message: From: dewayne@warpspeed.com (Dewayne Hendricks) Date: July 24, 2008 2:56:35 PM EDT To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy@warpspeed.com> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] UK ISPs agree to illegally file-share their users' records UK ISPs agree to illegally file-share their users' records 24/07/2008 12:28:00 - by Ian Scales <http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?newsid=43568&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10 > Six of the UK's biggest ISPs have caved-in to music and movie industry pressure and have undertaken to define and adopt a 'code' in an effort to reduce copyright-breaking file sharing. But there are clear signs that ISPs haven't just been steamrollered. The agreement, announced today by the UK government, involves carrots as well as sticks, with the Brown administration promising to come up with a draft bill on the issue and to foster a general agreement that will see ISPs and content owners develop 'legal' file sharing services. In other words ISPs will get to share the spoils of any revenue- generating services that are now developed in return for policing the 'legal' file sharing boundaries. Or, as we prefer to characterise it, 'You hold them down, I'll remove their wallets'. This is exactly the development that libertarians have been warning about in the run-up to the passage of the telecoms package (see - European telecom package supporters answer back). That particular European Parliament legislation (to be debated and voted upon in September) clears the way for national governments to introduce legislation that would compel ISPs to do a bit of illegal file sharing of their own. Under the proposed rule changes ISPs would be obliged to share information about 'illegal' file-sharing behaviour and would also be obliged to warn and police their own users under threat of a law suit from content owners. This is a huge change to the established relationships between user, ISP and content owner, since it breaches the Internet's essential privacy and neutrality principles. On privacy, the breach is obvious. ISPs would be breaking their obligations to their own users and sharing information about their addresses and their on-line behaviour. Hypocrisy or just rolling-over and playing-dead to the order of the big boys? The threat to neutrality is just as insidious though less obvious. In the case of the UK an immediate conflict of interest is created by ISPs ' policing role and their ability to tap new revenues through the offer of an alternative on-line service (an opportunity itself created by the policing). Neutral indeed! [snip] - ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ------- End of Forwarded Message