23 February 2010 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Government withdraws plans to cut off illegal file sharers

The British government has stated it will not cut off internet access from illegal file sharers, following a petition in response to its Digital Britain campaign launched in June.

The Guardian reports that a petition on the Number 10 website urged Gordon Brown "to abandon Lord Mandelson's plans to ban individuals from the internet based on their use of 'peer to peer' file sharing."

Although the original petition only attracted 550 signatures - just 50 more than is required for the proposal to be considered - the issue was apparently deemed a significant one for the government's popularity, particularly as many users pointed out the contradictions to the government's typical "three strikes" policy and aim to get all of Britain online.

The government responded: "We will not terminate the accounts of infringers - it is very hard to see how this could be deemed proportionate except in the most extreme - and therefore probably criminal - cases.

"We added account suspension to the list of possible technical measures which might be considered if our measures to tackle unlawful file-sharing through notifications and legal action are not as successful as we hope. This is but one of a number of possible options on which we would seek advice from Ofcom - and others - if we decided to consider a third obligation on technical measures.

"However what is clear is that we would need a rapid and robust route of appeal available to all consumers if we decided technical measures were needed."

The original bill presented to the House of Lords proposed "technical measures" that would restrict internet access for those found to be repeatedly breaking copyright law, including any measure which "prevents a subscriber from using the service to gain access to particular material, or limits such use; suspends the service provided to a subscriber; or limits the service provided to a subscriber in another way."

Although the government has stepped back from this position, it is still retaining the idea of "temporary" suspension in "last resort" cases - which, according to the Open Rights Group, may not be too dissimilar after all.