British ISPs Set To Hand Over File Sharer Names

The movie and film industry is getting tough on file sharers and the British music industry is no exception.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has successfully applied to the High Court to force ISPs to hand over the names of 31 high-volume file sharers. The ISPs have 14 days to comply, after whicht he BPI will write to the 31 individuals and offer an out-of-court settlement.

BPI General Counsel Geoff Taylor said "This sends a powerful message to people that are illegally distributing music on peer-to-peer networks that they are not anonymous and that they will be held responsible for what they are doing.

"Filesharers in the UK have already discovered this to their cost, and we will not simply stand back and allow them to illegally distribute our members' music on the internet.

"We learned from our first round of cases that people from all walks of life are engaged in this activity. We would particularly advise parents to check what their children are doing on the internet and make sure that they are not breaking the law by filesharing illegally".

Source: http://www.mediacenterpcworld.com

Date - 14 March 2005