Six major Internet providers from the U.K. - Virgin Media, Sky, Carphone Warehouse, BT, Orange and Tiscali, along with entertainment organizations, have signed an agreement that is meant to stop illegal downloads in the country. The British Government is a co-signer of the agreement whose main purpose is to offer legal alternatives, and not necessarily to punish those who happen to contravene copyright regulations.
As the Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform states, a survey conducted by British Music Rights, that aimed to learn about the use of P2P applications by young people found that "63% of respondents used unlicensed P2P networks, downloading an average of 53 tracks per month (although some individuals admitted copying 5,000 tracks per month)". Other fields that are marked by copyright infringements are the movie, game and software industry. Depending on the gravity of the violation, users' actions fall under civil or criminal law.
Users who are tracked downloading illegal content will receive a letter to remind them that they are breaking the law. If the account used for downloading belongs to a child, his parents will be noticed about the infringement and, at the same time, be asked to take measures. The identified persons will be given alternate, legal sources to obtain the type of content they were caught pirating. Legal measures will probably be applied only in the case of recidivists. In fact, the signers of the agreement have already taken charge of setting the bases of a self-regulatory mechanism that would allow them to judge each case separately.
"It's a great thing that new technology lets young people today explore popular culture in a way my generation simply could not. But this freedom cannot extend to allowing people to think they can access content for free. We expect Britain to produce the best bands and films in the world. But that will only happen if we find new ways of rewarding our creative talent and investing in new names." said Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Andy Burnham.
