In a letter to the Financial Times, BT Group Chief Executive Ian Livingston suggested that persistent file sharers caught breaking copyright laws should face fines instead of technical sanctions proposed by the UK government. He said that suspending service for persistent infringers as spelled out in the Digital Economy Bill could deny a fair hearing for the accused.
Instead of the technical sanctions outlined in the DEB, Livingston said people could choose to pay a penalty or fight the accusation. Those who dispute accusations could take their case to a new tribunal instead of the courts. The suggestion brings BT in line with the Open Rights Group, which believes such a system would be fairer and less risky than the proposed suspensions and other sanctions.
In the letter - which was also signed by the bosses of TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Orange, as well as Facebook, Google, eBay and Yahoo! - a recent amendment to the Digital Economy Bill faced considerable criticism. The amendment made last week would allow copyright holders to injunct ISPs and force the blocking of specific web addresses.
The measure would be used to fight against files posted on “locker services”, such as Rapidshare. “Endorsing a policy that would encourage the blocking of websites by UK broadband providers or other internet companies is a very serious step for the UK to take,” the letter reads.
“Put simply, blocking access as envisaged by this clause would both widely disrupt the internet in the UK and elsewhere and threaten freedom of speech and the open internet, without reducing copyright infringement as intended.”
[More]>>
Result for: virgin media
Popular DVR maker TiVo and ISP Virgin Media have announced a partnership this week, one that will see TiVo develop Virgin’s upcoming HD set-top boxes.
TiVo will create a custom interface and in exchange Virgin “will be the exclusive distributor of TiVo service and hardware in the UK,” says Electronista. Virgin has been losing market share to rival BSkyB in the UK and the company hopes the new generation of HD boxes will help them compete.
The boxes, besides playing back SD and HD streams from Virgin, will include online services such as the BBC iPlayer and itv.com.
The set-tops should go on sale in 2010.
Result for: virgin media
Virgin Media has started a new “unlimited” music service this week in the UK, however The Register is reporting that the service will not be unlimited at all, and users will be able to download 40 MP3s for £15 a month instead.
The ISP will eventually have unlimited downloads but “we’re still working towards that goal”, says the company.
UMG, the largest label on the planet, is a big fan of the unlimited music model, and other reports have put the blame on Sony Music for the lack of current unlimited options via Virgin.
“We believe music fans are crying out for a service like this, and we want to see it launched as soon as possible. We and our artists are doing everything we can to support Virgin Media and to get the new service off the ground,” adds a UMG spokesperson.
Virgin still hopes to have the service up and running by December, with all labels on board.
