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Under a new initiative, UK internet service providers will send emails to subscribers identified as downloading or sharing copyrighted material.
The anti-piracy effort, called the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme, has been adopted by the four major providers and will begin later this month. Subscribers suspected of infringing copyright will receive an email explaining the issue and directing them to legal ways to access content.
While tracking users who download copyrighted material directly can be difficult, those using torrent sites are most vulnerable to having their IP addresses linked to specific files. Authorities focus first on people who initially share copyrighted files, then on those who help to seed them to others, and finally on those who download the content.
Prosecuting offenders is challenging because judges have frequently ruled that an IP address alone is insufficient to prove an individual’s wrongdoing. Visitors to a home, neighbors, or even hackers could use someone’s connection to download material, which has reduced the effectiveness of so-called “speculative invoicing.” That practice involved law firms sending letters to suspected infringers demanding settlement payments or threatening legal action.
A proposed Digital Economy Act in 2010 took a tougher approach, requiring ISPs to issue warnings before threatening disconnection. Concerns about the unreliability of IP addresses led to that plan being set aside in favor of this new initiative, which emphasizes educating consumers and pointing them toward legal options rather than using fear-based tactics.
Fostering a sense of moral responsibility to pay for content is seen as more effective than waging an “unwinnable” war against pirates. This approach also encourages content providers to make legal access as simple as possible. For example, the most pirated TV series ever, Game of Thrones, initially suffered from distribution problems that made it hard for international fans to find via standard channels like iTunes.
The strategy seems to be having an impact: music streaming revenues have grown significantly year on year, and digital video revenues have recently surpassed DVD and Blu-ray sales for the first time.
What are your thoughts on this latest anti-piracy initiative? Let us know in the comments.