Britain to adopt three strikes regulation after all

Copyright holders should be able to file for the suspension of Internet connections of serious copyright violators, says the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

This is a marked change from the policy proposed in the Digital Britain report, which was published only recently. Suspending connections was deemed to harsh a measure in this report. However, a consultation following the publication of the Digital Britain report revealed that stakeholders found the arsenal of punitive measures wanting. This has caused BIS to reconsider, as can be read in this press release.

The Department indicates to aim for a change in two ways. Firstly, it wishes to accelerate the process of creating and implementing technical measures, stating that piracy calls for urgent action that the original timescale could not provide. Secondly, account termination is proposed as a measure of last resort and is hoped to primarily have a deterring effect that was lacking in the original measures.