Illegal downloaders will start receiving warning letters from internet service providers from 1 March 2014, under a draft code for the government's anti-digital piracy regime drawn up by media regulator Ofcom.
Under the draft code, published on Tuesday by the regulator, the UK's biggest ISPs – BT, Everything Everywhere, O2, Sky, TalkTalk Group and Virgin Media – will be required to send letters to customers warning them when there is an allegation from a film, TV or music company that there has been illegal downloading from their computer.
Web users who get three warning letters in a year will face having anonymous information of their downloading and filesharing history provided to copyright owners, which could then be used to gain a court order to reveal the customer's identity and take legal action against piracy.
Internet users will be able to appeal against a report on their alleged infringement, at a cost of £20, which will be refunded if they are successful. Ofcom said that given the logistics involved in establishing an appeals body and other elements necessary to police the draft code, which implements anti-piracy provisions in the Digital Economy Act 2010, UK internet users will not start receiving letters until 1 March 2014.
Ofcom's draft code – which, after a consultation period is expected, to pass through parliament at the end of the year – also gives a breakdown of the costs involved to set up and run the new system. As much as 75% of the costs will be met by rights holders. The consultation on the online infringement of copyright code closes on 26 July. A separate consultation on the allocation of costs for policing the code runs until 18 September.
Source: The Guardian
