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UK ISP Says No To Music Industry Pressure

Posted by kdawson on from the police-it-yourself dept.

siloko sends us to the BBC for the story of one ISP standing up to the music industry. (But note that this ISP is one of the ones said to have worked with Phorm on plans to track customers' surfing.) "The head of one of Britain's biggest internet providers has criticized the music industry for demanding that he act against pirates. Charles Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse, which runs the TalkTalk broadband service, is refusing. He said it is not his job to be an internet policeman."

14 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Eh, whatever. by Futile+Rhetoric · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a matter of money, not principle. Why the hell would a provider invest in the required infrastructure upgrades? Now, if the record industry agrees to pay for it, perhaps with a small bonus on top for lubrication purposes, they'll switch to a different tune just like that.

    1. Re:Eh, whatever. by Stripe7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If they are forced to police P2P for copyright violations, then they have to police for child pr0n, then sexual predators, then for pr0n filtering, then the lawsuits show up for filtering breast cancer sites, drug rehab support sites, etc.. It opens up a can of worms no ISP wanting to avoid legal headaches would want to stick their toes into.

  2. Innocence by phorm · · Score: 5, Funny

    But note that this ISP is one of the ones said to have worked with Phorm on plans to track customers' surfing

    I know nothing of this, honestly!

  3. Neutrality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    mod ISP +1 for standing up to gov lobbyists.
    mod ISP -1 for cosying with phorm.
    Net result: 0 points.

    Is this what they mean by net neutrality?

  4. They make it sound like a natural thing by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The spokesman for the BPI makes it sound like the relationship between ISPs and the music industry is symbiotic. They dress up the "responsibilities" of the ISP in pretty words that make it sound like shutting down users is the greatest thing in the world.

    If you read the article, you'll find Geoff Taylor's doublespeak amazing.

    At the heart of this issue is ensuring that creators are fairly rewarded in the digital age

    Okay so far...

    and we passionately believe that working in partnership with ISPs to develop first-class, safe, legal, digital music services is the way forward.

    Uh...

    Here's the appropriate response to that idiocy from Charles Dunstone, TalkTalk head.

    We are the conduit that gives users access to the internet. We do not control the internet, nor do we control what our users do on the internet.

    Good job, Charles.

    1. Re:They make it sound like a natural thing by CmdrGravy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Also his smug assumption that if the ISPs don't reach a voluntary agreement that he'll simply have laws drawn up to compel them is quite sickening. Why should the trials of a group of music publicists be afforded so much attention and deference ?

    2. Re:They make it sound like a natural thing by CogDissident · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And BPI is saying that ISPs should disconnect users, which hurts their revenue directly. So, co-operate with BPI: lose money and customers. Fight BPI: keep customers, and free publicity and good will.

      Easy business decision if you ask me.

  5. conduit by esocid · · Score: 4, Funny

    He said: "Our position is very clear. We are the conduit that gives users access to the internet. We do not control the internet, nor do we control what our users do on the internet.
    Again with this british slang for tubes?
    --
    Absolute power corrupts absolutely. indymedia
  6. Re:Love the guilt laden language they use... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I particularly liked

    The BPI denied it is asking ISPs to become internet police, saying the firms need to educate their customers not to steal music.
    Er well no, actually they don't need to do any such thing. As a trade body who apparently represents the interests of the recording industry it's your responsibility to "educate" the public. It's nothing to do with the ISP.
  7. Amazed by CmdrGravy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm amazed it's taken this long before any of the ISPs have spoken out, any sort of policing at all is quite clearly not their job and the very second they begin to take an interest in the content they are transmitting, the second that happens they are going to monitoring and reporting everything to everyone and responsible for all manner of disasters and tragedies when the overwhelming technical impossibility of what they're being asked to do causes something to go wrong.

    Any special interest group worried about a particular activity on the internet will want the ISP to ban it, ever media craze will lead to more things being banned and the ISP carrying the can for policing it, any government dept looking for some quick headlines will get them to report ( for example ) anyone talking about benefit fraud in chat rooms to the benefit agency.

    Today Jaqui Smith, some brainless minister in the British government, is suggesting ( yet again ) that all paedophiles should register their e-mail addresses with the police and not be allowed to register on chat rooms with those addresses. She says she is in discussions with ISPs to police this. She is too stupid to realise what she is asking for and too moronic to understand palming her inability to convict people and lock them up should not be palmed off onto commercial entities who have no business whatsover doing her policing for her.

    1. Re:Amazed by Tim+Browse · · Score: 5, Funny

      and viola - he now has a myspace/facebook/whatever account...

      Not to mention a stringed instrument!

  8. Talk Talk: bit torrent throttlers by sjwest · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you read the customers of talk talk tales of woe site http://talktalkhell.wordpress.com/ you will note that wow players (uses b/t) are penalised since they use b/t and are so deemed bit bandwidth eaters and bad for his business. Dunstones attempts at running an isp mean that most consider his first enterprise talk talk a failure, his next venture was to buy aol in the uk.

  9. Re:Love the guilt laden language they use... by daveime · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes, and in a perfect world the sellers of handguns should "educate" gangs not to shoot people, and the cigarette companies should "educate" smokers that they're probably going to die prematurely.

    Just because someone supplies a service doesn't make them responsible for what the masses decide to do with that service, especially not in terms of protecting the interests of a group of sharks in business suits.

  10. Is it not also a matter of privacy? by ewrong · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a bit like asking the post office to open every single letter they deliver to check whether they have any illegally copied DVDs or CDs in there.