Calls For Illegal File Sharers To Have Broadband Cut

There are growing calls and pressure being put upon the government to force illegal file sharers to have their broadband service cut off.

The calls come from bodies within the creative industry who ultimately want a commitment from the government to stop illegal downloads and to disconnect persistent users who have already been warned.

According to the eight bodies which represent the creative industry, more responsibility should be given to internet service providers. However, the ISP’s are reluctant to take more responsibility. They claim they do not wish to have an internet policing type role or the costs associated with it.

Currently if an ISP thinks that a user is sharing illegal files, they can write a letter to the user to warn them against doing it. This is usually enough to put that user off repeating the offence. However, this is not always the case.

The government have already tried to address the issue and earlier in the year, David Lammy, the UK’s Intellectual Property Minister said, “We can’t have a system where we’re talking about arresting teenagers in their bedrooms.”

However, the creative bodies are adamant that something needs to be done. As it stands the government have set a target to reduce the problem by up to 70% in the next few years. This means that it is likely that new measures will be introduced in the not so distant future to better address the problem.