IFPI Wants ISPs To Cut Off File-Sharers

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the such-nice-people dept

While the RIAA is busy sending out SWAT teams, its international equivalent, the IFPI also wants some help in its fight against copyright infringement: it’s again calling for ISPs to cut off customers who it says share copyrighted music. It’s not clear exactly why ISPs should be compelled to do the IFPI’s bidding, much like it’s unclear why the RIAA gets to deploy public law enforcement SWAT teams. However, in the UK, the recent Gowers Report on intellectual property recommended that ISPs come to some sort of arrangement with the record labels in this area, or that government should intervene. There are theoretical objections to the idea, but it could be a somewhat decent idea, and is certainly preferable to suing consumers into oblivion. However, there’s no guarantee that getting an ISP to cut off a user would preclude separate legal action, and it’s highly unlikely that the IFPI will push for the shutdown process to be implemented in a fair way that allows for a user to defend themselves before getting cut off. When groups like the IFPI, RIAA or MPAA are the ones accusing people of illegal file-sharing, they often don’t bother to collect sufficient evidence. They accuse the wrong people, or even try to say that the mere existence of a shared files folder constitutes illegal activity. Presumably what they want is something akin to YouTube’s DMCA takedown process: they fill out a web form somewhere with an IP address, and boom, that user gets cut off from the internet, with no recourse or — god forbid — due process.