Technical Solutions to Be Proposed to Deal with Copyright Infringement
When it comes to tackling habitual offenders engaged in online piracy, technology seems to be a better substitute to the “three strikes and you’re out” strategy that was to be recommended in the final Digital Britain report scheduled for release on 16 June. The report may now emphasize the need for a technical solution to check cases of copyright violation.
Culture secretary Andy Burnham, during a significant speech at Music Week’s Make Online Music Pay conference spoke of technical solutions that the report will recommend. These solutions would most likely imply limitations or restrictions on file sharing activity, which will be achieved through throttling of broadband connections of users who are known to be downloading copyrighted material repeatedly. The report will also back distribution of warning letters to persistent offenders from internet service providers.
The idea of using technical solutions has so far got positive response from industry experts and observers. Mark Mulligan, who is the vice president at Forrester Research, said in an interview to the BBC that imposing connection restrictions through technology will be a simple process, as the technical infrastructure required for it is already in use by most major ISPs, who use it to manage traffic at peak times. Click here for a broadband comparison of ISP’s.
Mulligan said that although the proposal could irk both the ISPs and music publishers, it might be seen as the best possible solution in the current scenario.
