March 31, 2008 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- UK Internet service provider Virgin Media (virginmedia.com) is reportedly in talks with the British Phonographic Industry (bpi.co.uk) to implement a new 'three strikes' system against illegal file sharers, which would make the second major ISP to offer the system, as reported today by The Register (theregister.co.uk).
The trial system, targeted at the most persistent copyright infringers, would give offenders three warnings before disconnecting their service.
British broadband provider Tiscali (tiscali.co.uk) implemented this same system last summer with the BPI, which led to four customers being disconnected after they allegedly ignored the warnings. However, the deal eventually disintegrated after Tiscali and the BPI failed to reach an agreement as to how the costs should be distributed.
Virgin Media released this statement today: "We have been in discussions with rights holders organizations about how a voluntary scheme could work. We are taking this problem seriously and would favor a sensible voluntary solution."
A spokesman added that customers will be notified as to when the trial begins, but could not disclose what the exact date will be.
The proposed three strikes rules scheme will see BPI enforcement agents detect IP numbers involved in copyright-infringing peer to peer networks. It will warn the ISP, which will voluntarily send out alerts to the customer to cease participation in the P2P networks or their service will be disconnected.
UK ISPs are under significant government pressure to implement this system, or face legislation. Meanwhile, similar initiatives are to follow in France and Japan. Earlier this month, reports revealed that Japanese ISPs have agreed to work with copyright holders to identify customers using peer to peer file sharing services to infringe on copyrighted material and unplug their Internet services.
