Internet service providers (ISPs) have responded negatively to calls from the creative industries for the government to encourage disconnecting persistent illegal file sharers from their broadband services.
In a statement, the Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA) says that while it agrees the government needs to do more to ensure content delivered over broadband connections is legally obtained, ISPs should not be tasked with tackling this issue through "technological measures".
An alliance of organisations from the UK's creative industries, including the BPI and the UK Film Council, said in a statement yesterday (May 12th) that fewer individual legal actions should be taken against file sharers and more decisive technical measures should be put in place to combat the problem.
The ISPA says that its members have already explained that "significant technological advances" are required before they can implement rules and restrictions that would be admissible as court evidence.
"ISPs and consumer groups consider disconnection of users to be a disproportionate response, a view that was recently supported by the European parliament," it comments.
Nicholas Lansman, secretary general at the ISPA, adds that "a major part of the solution lies in licensing reform and the availability of legal content online" rather than action taken by ISPs.
According to the 2009 IFPI Digital Music Report, 95 per cent of music downloads are obtained illegally and are unpaid for.
The British Video Association says that physical and digital copyright theft costs the film, video and TV sectors hundreds of millions of pounds in cannibalised revenues.
