The British Phonographic Institute (BPI) pressed 2 U.K. ISPs to s...
The British Phonographic Institute (BPI) pressed 2 U.K. ISPs to shutter 59 accounts suspected of unauthorized file- swapping. The Mon. request to Tiscali and Cable & Wireless signals the start of a tougher campaign against P2P uploaders, BPI said.…
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Since 2003, BPI has focused on individual uploaders, filing legal action against 139 and winning the 4 cases that have gone to court. Moving against ISPs will let the industry deal with more cases more quickly and efficiently, BPI said. It’s unacceptable for ISPs to “turn a blind eye to industrial-scale copyright infringement,” Chmn. Peter Jamieson said: “We are providing Tiscali and Cable & Wireless with unequivocal evidence of copyright infringement via their services. It is now up to them to put their house in order and pull the plug on these people.” BPI counts 17 Tiscali and 42 Cable & Wireless Internet Protocol addresses used to upload significant numbers of music files. It wants the ISPs to suspend the accounts until the users agree to stop unauthorized file- sharing. Both ISPs’ terms of use bar use of accounts for infringement, BPI said. Cable & Wireless and its ISP, Bulldog, “have an acceptable use policy that covers illegal file-sharing,” the company said, adding that should mean any accounts used for such activity are closed. “We will take whatever steps are necessary to put the matter right,” a C&W spokesman said. Tiscali got BPI’s letter “by e-mail at 10:15 this (Mon.) morning and we will be dealing with the request in the normal manner,” it said. The ISP doesn’t automatically suspend customer accounts on request, “but on occasion do so pending investigation,” it said. Tiscali is reviewing the information and will “respond appropriately,” it said. ISPs don’t condone intellectual property theft, but those providers aren’t liable for illegal file-sharing because U.K. law treats them as “mere conduits” of information, said the U.K. ISP Assn. (ISPA). Passing on information about subscribers to the BPI may violate privacy laws, ISPA said. “The BPI is a trade association, not a law enforcement organization. It should therefore go through the appropriate channels to demand action from ISPs. Today’s demands from the BPI lack any judicial input,” ISPA said.