[Infowarrior] - British ISPs say no to being copyright cops

[Richard Forno]

British ISPs say no to being copyright cops
Clean up your act, rights holders told
By Nick Farrell
Thursday, 14 May 2009, 10:36

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1137333/british-isps-copyright-cops

WHILE POLITICIANS in blighty dither over whether or not they should  
introduce tougher anti-piracy laws, the nation's ISPs are telling the  
music and film industries to stuff it.

The UK creative industries have demanded that ISPs start disconnecting  
users accused of repeated online copyright infringement. But ISPs are  
starting to fight back.

They do not see why they should be the movie and film industries'  
copyright cops, particularly as the problem is caused by rights  
holders not doing a better job of licencing legal content.

In a statement, the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA)  
said Internet companies are trying to provide legal content online but  
are frustrated by the entertainment industries' daft rules that stop  
them from doing it.

ISPA told Ars Technica that legislation on enforcement should only be  
introduced on the condition that the rights holder industries commit  
to significant licencing reform.

There is some merit in this. In areas where the likes of the RIAA and  
friends have allowed reasonable distribution illegal downloading has  
fallen off. The Music Mafiaa's own statistics show that legal  
downloading is more popular than illegal file sharing.

We'd go further than ISPA's timid statement, however. The  
entertainment industries should be required to achieve licencing  
reform before they even think about asking for legislative support,  
and they should have to pay artists ninety per cent of gross receipts  
and submit to strict audits. µ