Britain agrees plan to tackle online music piracy LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's six biggest Internet providers have agreed a plan to tackle piracy within the music and film industries, pledging to send warning letters to users suspected of illegal file-sharing. But the plan in its current form falls short of requests by music trade bodies which had called for Internet service providers to disconnect those who repeatedly download music illegally. Under the plan drawn up by the government, Virgin Media, BSkyB, Carphone Warehouse, BT, Orange and Tiscali have agreed to work towards a "significant reduction" in the illegal sharing of content. They will send letters to prolific illegal downloaders each week under a three-month trial, warning them that they are being monitored. The ISPs and rights holders will then work together with the media regulator Ofcom to come up with a Code of Practice on how to act if this does not work. Options could include a three-strikes-and-you're-out warning and filtering to prevent illegal tracks from being downloaded. "This is an intelligent approach to tackling unlawful file-sharing by industry and ISPs," Business Secretary John Hutton said in a statement. "It tells consumers what they can do, rather than just what they can't." The ISPs had previously argued they were mere conduits and not responsible for content. But they agreed to the deal after the British government said it would impose legislation if they did not work with the music and film industries to curb illegal file-sharing. Music companies have been trying desperately to boost digital sales in recent years following the growth of Internet piracy which has cut into CD sales. Some 6 million Britons are thought to engage in illegal file-sharing each year. The involvement of ISPs has also risen up the agenda after France introduced a scheme to disconnect users who persisted in illegal downloading. The government said the signatories would also need to work together to make material legally available online in a wide range of user-friendly formats. A host of downloading services have developed on the Internet in recent years, with the most successful being Apple's iTunes with over 70 percent of the digital music market. But the government has said it would still like to see more choice. BSkyB announced a subscription music service just this week.

Originally posted by Darenn Then again, I have AOL and they're not listed above so hopefully I'll be fine x]

Originally posted by Pj I don't download music through torennts i use youtube,i download the youtube video for example mercy then i convert to an mp3 file then burn to a cd is this illegal?

Originally posted by Darenn Quote: Originally posted by Pj I don't download music through torennts i use youtube,i download the youtube video for example mercy then i convert to an mp3 file then burn to a cd is this illegal? I think it is because either way, you still haven't paid for it =P

Originally posted by Pj I don't download music through torennts i use youtube,i download the youtube video for example mercy then i convert to an mp3 file then burn to a cd is this illegal?

Originally posted by Pj Quote: Originally posted by Darenn Quote: Originally posted by Pj I don't download music through torennts i use youtube,i download the youtube video for example mercy then i convert to an mp3 file then burn to a cd is this illegal? I think it is because either way, you still haven't paid for it =P Oh well i'll still do it the world is full of thugs and pedo's shouldn't they be more worried about them than this.

Originally posted by Red Moon Quote: Originally posted by Pj I don't download music through torennts i use youtube,i download the youtube video for example mercy then i convert to an mp3 file then burn to a cd is this illegal? Yes it is. Youtube would be one of the sites that could be affected by this type of action. The ISP's could monitor youtube traffic and restrict access to music videos uploaded on to the site. In theory they could even pass the names of people uploading and downloading (i.e. watching) music videos to the music industry so legal action could be taken in the courts to recover lost royalties.

Originally posted by Darenn Quote: Originally posted by Pj Quote: Originally posted by Darenn Quote: Originally posted by Pj I don't download music through torennts i use youtube,i download the youtube video for example mercy then i convert to an mp3 file then burn to a cd is this illegal? I think it is because either way, you still haven't paid for it =P Oh well i'll still do it the world is full of thugs and pedo's shouldn't they be more worried about them than this. Exactly. I really doubt I'll stop unless I get a letter/warning thingy. In which case, I'll probs just set up a deal with my mates, all buy CDs and trade the files over MSN. Mwahahaha.

Originally posted by Markus I download my music through sites like Rapidshare, Zshare, Mediafire etc....file hosting websites. I haven't downloaded on things like Limewire for ages.

Originally posted by Pj Oh well i'll still do it the world is full of thugs and pedo's shouldn't they be more worried about them than this.

Illegal downloaders to be threatened by UK ISPs




Six major UK internet service providers (IPSs) have signed up to a new agreement to tackle illegal downloading in a move which will see hundreds of thousands of internet users sent warning letters about downloading music.

BT, Virgin, Orange, Tiscali, BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse have signed up to the agreement, which was negotiated by the government, reports BBC News.

The deal is called a Memorandum Of Understanding, and was drawn up by the Department For Business, Enterprise And Regulatory Reform (BERR).

The news comes in the same month that ISP Virgin Media sent around 800 warning letters to customers, saying their internet connections could be cut off if they continue to download music illegally.

However, the ISPs who have signed up to the new agreement have not agreed to threaten to cut off users' connections – something the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) wants them to do.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, said the move was a step closer to ISPs taking responsibility for dealing with illegal downloaders using their service.

The new agreement will apply to users who both upload and download music files.

"The focus is on people sharing files illegally," said Taylor. "There is not an acceptable level of file-sharing. Musicians need to be paid like everyone else."

What do you think of this measure? Will it stop internet downloads? Is it an invasion of privacy? Are there alternatives that the music industry is ignoring or is it right that artists get to protect their music?


Original article here

Originally posted by Darenn UGH, i hate this. the thing with me is either; 1. Can't afford to buy the CD. 2. I can't get an itunes account - no credit card holder. 3. A LOT of my music isn't available in England. 4. My CD drive is broken, so even if I bought the CD, I couldn't burn it onto my ipod. If I download a song, I do end up eventually getting the CD too [if I can obvs] Then again, I have AOL and they're not listed above so hopefully I'll be fine x]