Brits say No! to ISPs as corporate copyright cops

[DaBees-Knees]

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/18795

ISPs shouldn’t have to act as enforcers for the corporate entertainment industry,  say most Britons. Only 20.7% of of 472 respondents in an ISPreview survey thought providers, “should tackle repeated illegal file sharing by imposing restrictions upon P2P access”. Moreover, just 14.8%, “were in favour of restricting broadband service speed as a punishment for repeat offenders,” and only 26.9%, “supported the idea of sending even more warning letters if the first one failed,” it says. And if indeed it’s the prerogative of ISPs to work for the movie studios and record labels, “Unsurprisingly 22.4% didn’t know how ISPs should solve the problem,” says the report, going on: “The results come just over one month after Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report published its response to the consultation on peer-to-peer file sharing, which set out an intention to legislate by requiring UK ISPs to ‘notify alleged infringers of rights (subject to reasonable levels of proof from rights-holders) that their conduct is unlawful.” The Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), “argues that ISPs cannot prevent illegal downloading because they ‘are no more able to inspect and filter every single packet passing across their network than the Post Office is able to open every envelope’,” says the report.

I'm not sure that 472 people can be said to represent a nation, but they certainly made their views known. I decidedly got the impression that they are not mad keen on the idea. 

[Trestor]

I don't live there, but the principle is the same, anywhere. If I employ an ISP to provide a service for which I pay, their responsibilities are to me, not to someone else who doesn't pay them.

An ISP is not a properly constituted law enforcement body with legislated authority to do police work. There do not appear to be any checks and balances to ensure justice takes place, as is a common law right and a legal requirement. For an ISP to actively monitor individual usage would seem a violation of existing privacy legislation.

I hope someone sues them and brings criminal charges against them. If the ISPs had any sense, and guts, they should see the legal minefield they are agreeing to and mount a group challenge in court concerning the legality of what is being enacted.

[Forested665]

The ISPs and the cartel can both say that those numbers were tainted because the people interveiwed are currently using P2P
thus any statement by the people weather it be from a large sample or from a selected control group has little meaning to the people that care. the only way this has any holding against the cartel is if it publically brings shame to what they are doing. or in a more extreme case all funding is lost and their operations are shut down.