“Three strikes” remains controversial in the UK

The British Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) indicated to have changed its outlook on disconnecting repeating file sharers from the Internet last August. In June, the official stance, emanating from the Digital Britain report, was that account termination was too harsh a punishment. Since then, says BIS, “thinking has evolved”.

However, the issue remains controversial as stakeholders are publicly denouncing the “three strikes” resolution of the BIS. ISPs were the first to indicate their aversion of the proposal. talktalk, first ISP to take position, stated quite harshly that it was “dismayed” by the “futile u-turn on illegal file-sharing.” Subsequently, a number of ISPs, amongst which BT and Orange UK wrote an open letter together with Consumer Focus and the Open Rights Group, a digital rights organisation in which they acknowledged file sharing as a problem but doubted the appropriateness of terminating Internet access. They urged the BIS to “avoid an extrajudicial “kangaroo court” process where evidence is not tested properly and accused broadband users are denied the right to defend themselves against false accusations.” The letter is published on the TimesOnline.

British musicians have also taken a stance against “three strikes” regulations. The Music Producers Guild, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (Basca) and the Featured Artists Coalition have produced a joined statement that was quoted by The Guardian. "We vehemently oppose the proposals being made and suggest that the stick is now in danger of being way out of proportion to the carrot. The failure of 30,000 US lawsuits against consumers and the cessation of the pursuit of that policy should be demonstration enough that this is not a policy that any future-minded UK government should pursue."

Patrick Racklow, chief executive of Basca, states that the problems in the music industry cannot be solved by legislation but require innovation. "The music industry is quite a scary place to be at the moment and we don't know what it will look like in 10 years' time, but if we find ways of licensing, new ways of doing things will evolve. What we can't do is try to push things forward by looking back."