U.K. Web Piracy Proposal Raises Concerns
From CongressDaily's AM:
News that Internet service providers in the United Kingdom might be legally required to take action against computer users who access pirated material raised concerns on Capitol Hill Tuesday and among those who track U.S. intellectual property policy. The British newspaper The Times recently reported a leaked proposal that calls for those suspected of downloading illegitimate movies or music to get an initial warning e-mail, followed by a suspension for a second offense, then a termination of their service contract for a third offense. [Read the full story]
A spokesman for the U.K. Internet Services Providers' Association told Tech Daily Dose after deadline that the trade group is "currently in talks with the Motion Picture Association of America and liaises with government on this issue." ISPs are "mere conduits" of information and bear no liability for illegal file-sharing since the content is not hosted on their servers, the official said.
"ISPs are no more able to inspect and filter every single packet passing across their network than the post office is able to open every envelope," the spokesman said. "ISPs deal with many more packets of data each day than postal services and data protection legislation actually prevents ISPs from looking at the content."
In the United States, ISPs also have "a strong record of responsibility and cooperation when it comes to protection of intellectual property online," said Dave McClure, president of the U.S. Internet Industry Association. He pointed out that American laws differ from those abroad. "Here in the U.S., we must balance our desire to support content companies with the mandates of fair use, state and federal privacy laws, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act," McClure said.
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