Talk Talk slates Lord Mandelson's piracy plans

Business secretary, Lord Mandelson, has recently announced harsh plans to cut down on online piracy by illegal file sharers, but Internet Service Provider, Talk Talk, has stated that this could be a breach of fundamental rights.

There have been mixed responses to the recent announcement by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson about his plans to crack down on internet piracy amongst illegal file sharers in the UK through hefty fines and the risk of being disconnected by their Internet Service Providers. Whilst the entertainment industry, some celebrities, and some MPs may be happy about the plans consumers, campaigners, and many ISPs are not at all happy.

Lord Mandelson announced his plans after meeting with a Hollywood big shot, David Geffen, who, as a member of the entertainment industry, is strongly against illegal file sharing. One Internet Service Provider has now slated the plans of Mandelson, stating that they could result in a breach of fundamental rights.

Andrew Heaney, the director of regulation at Talk Talk spoke out in a recent interview, and stated that whilst he was not against a clampdown on illegal file sharing different tactics were required. He said that educating consumers, informing those found to be participating by letter, and ensuring that there were legal alternatives were amongst the methods that could help to cut down on this sort of activity. Virgin Media has also commented on the plans, and has said that the way to successfully cutting down on this sort of activity is through “persuasion not coercion.”

There are also concerns about how illegal file sharers will be caught, as this will be done through tracing IP addresses. This could create serious problems in cases where more than one person is using an internet connection.

Source – The Inquirer