14 DAY TRIAL // British Phonographic Industry, the equivalent of RIAA in Great Britain, initiated a fight against the users sharing copyright protected music files and movies.
BPI accomplished to get a court order forcing the Internet providers to reveal the names and addresses of those sharing copyright-protected media content.
According to this order, 31 Internauts were "exposed" and sentenced to pay huge fines, just like other peer-to-peer network users did lately.
The first round of litigations resulted in 23 agreements reached between the two parties; three other defendants are to go to court.
The Internet providers have 14 days to expose to BPI the requested information about those illegally sharing copyright-protected media content. After getting this information BPI is to connect those involved, to inform them on their current status and on the follow-up of their actions, however offering them a chance for amicable resolution of the litigation.
The British are not the only ones making drastic decisions against users sharing copyright-protected content. The French initiated similar action in January, when several national Internet service providers allied in the attempt to fight back piracy.
All users sharing music in violation of copyright legislation are to be disconnected from the network. The providers adhering to such action include Free, Noos, Club-Internet, Wanadoo and Tiscali France.
The major French companies are not the only ones initiating actions aiming at limiting illegal downloads; at the beginning of this month several musicians, intellectuals and politicians initiated a campaign, perhaps the first in Europe, denouncing illegal media file sharing.
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Those transferring illegal files might pay substantial fines