ISPs facing pressure over illegal downloads

But experts say self-regulation may be more effective

Politicians in the UK have turned their attention to internet service providers (ISPs) in a bid to limit the amount of pirated material available on the internet.

In a document released by the department for culture media and support the Government admits that it will begin looking at the legislative environment surrounding ISPs, and was considering increasing its own powers, and the penalties it has at its disposal.

"The Government will equip itself to introduce legislation swiftly if suitable arrangements between ISPs and relevant sectors are not forthcoming, or prove insufficient” the report stated. "We will also explore tougher penalties for copyright infringement."

But John Lovelock, Chief Executive of The Federation Against Software Theft, said that typically ISPs were reluctant to divulge such information, meaning that investigating illegal downloaders and file sharers was an expensive and time consuming operation.

Lovelock suggested that self regulation would be more practical. "When ISPs see something illegal they should pull it" he said, adding that if ISPs consistently provided static IP addresses that could be linked to a business, or individual, the process of finding out who was acting illegally would be swift, and precise.

"Businesses would be linked to a permanent IP address making them permanently identifiable" he said, "We would then be able to ask ISPs to take action immediately, and could do so without lengthy and expensive investigations".

Such prospects would encourage firms to revisit their internet usage policies and ensure that they are strong enough to avoid exposure to investigation, said Lovelock. "Businesses should spend more effort controlling what their staff do, have robust policies in place, and ensure that they are using the right technologies."

Best estimates suggest that the UK is awash with illegally downloaded material. Recent research from online comparison site Moneysupermarket.com found that almost 20 per cent of British citizens readily admitted to downloading music, software, games and films from the internet, while almost half admitted to buying a disc already containing pirated material. Commenting on the research, Rob Barnes, head of broadband and mobiles at the firm, described Britons as having a relaxed attitude towards downloading.