The controversial illegal file sharing measures that were proposed by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson are to be amended according to a recent report.

Since Lord Mandelson proposed his strict measures to be used against broadband customers that were found to be illegally file sharing there has been uproar in the industry, with campaign groups and Internet Service Providers claiming that the government and the entertainment industry were going too far with their plans to disconnect and heavily fine those found to be taking part in such activities.

According to one recent report the government has now stated that it will be making amendments to these proposed measures, and that these changes will mean that illegal file sharers will only be disconnected if a court gets involved and deems it appropriate. Illegal file sharing has become a big problem, and Lord Mandelson recently announced his radical proposal in a bid to try and reduce piracy.

The amendments are likely to disappoint the entertainment industry, which has been suffering huge losses as a result of broadband users illegally downloading music, movies, and other copyrighted content. The new changes will mean that copyright holders will have to obtain a court order before Internet Service Providers can reduce or cut off offenders’ services.

Similar changes have recently been made in France, where a new rights council had been proposed to cut off those found to be illegally file sharing on a regular basis. However, these plans were scrapped after concerns from the Constitutional Council that consumers would be presumed guilty and unfairly disconnected. A  number of different measures have been tested over the years to try and deter illegal files sharing but so far have failed to make any impact.

Source – Ovum