Communications giant Virgin Media is to write to many customers to inform them that they could be disconnected if they do not stop illegal music downloads

It has recently been announced that the communications and broadband giant Virgin Media is preparing to write to thousands of its customers over illegal music downloads. The move has come as no surprise to the industry, and has been made jointly with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

The customers that are being contacted are being informed that they could have their services disconnected unless they refrain from illegally downloading music files. Officials say that many of these people may not be aware that they are committing a offence, and also that the parents of many children may not be aware of what their kids are downloading from the Internet, so the letter may come as a shock to many.

The topic of illegal downloading has been hitting the headlines more and more as ISPs take action to try and address the issue. Virgin media has been discussing the idea of implementing a ‘three strikes and you are out’ policy, which is where illegal downloaders would get three warnings before being disconnected for good. The media giant now appears to be putting this plan into action.

One of the reasons why ISPs have decided to take such drastic action is because continuation of illegal downloading is likely to impact upon their profits. This is because various agencies, such as the BPI, have threatened to take ISPs to court if adequate action is not taken to try and stamp out this illegal practice. Therefore ISPs are now making increased efforts to try and tackle this problem in order to avoid having action taken against them.
One official from the BPI stated: “Virgin Media is the first ISP to publicly address the problem. It is a socially responsible ISP and I think other ISPs will look at this and see progress.”