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UK ISP Disconnects Customers For File Sharing
think_nix writes "Karoo, an ISP in Hull, in the UK, is disconnecting subscribers without warning if they file-share, or are even suspected of file-sharing. Karoo is the only ISP in the area. Copyright owners are working with the ISP helping them identify and report suspected filesharers using their services. In order to get service restored, subscribers have to go to Karoo's office and sign a form admitting guilt and promising not to do it again. The article states that some subscribers have had their access cut off for more than two years." Update: 07/24 16:29 GMT by KD : The Register is reporting that Karoo has relented and has changed its policy. A spokesman said: "It is evident that we have been exceeding the expectation of copyright owners..."
At first I thought they would disconnect me for sharing ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso . Then when the summary mentioned copyright owners, I wasn't so sure. Then the summary mentioned "admitting guilt", what guilt?
Since government business is moving online, then the government should be the one required to ensure people have access to it. Most libraries these days has free internet access, so that issue is resolved.
The problem when requiring independent businesses to supply a basic service in any eventuallity has caused issues. Two examples of this is that the water services in the UK cannot cut you off for non-payment of your bills - the downside to this is that a lot of people know that, and simply refuse to pay anyway.
The second example is that the government recently stopped paying Local Housing Allowance to private landlords (where the person entitled to the housing allowance was in private rented accomodation rather than social housing) and started paying it to the entitled person instead.
This was done in an effort to increase the individuals ability to manage their own finances. What it actually accomplished was the situation where many landlords were not getting paid, because the person receiving the allowance was instead spending the money on alcohol, tobacco and luxury goods.
THe problem is, its a long process to evict a tenant that isn't paying, and a longer one to evict a tenant that is already receiving housing benefit. So private landlords are paying the price for the government policy change.
So now, the council register of private landlords willing to house Local Housing Allowance recipients has shrunk by as much as 90% in two years.
The phone companies can cut off your telephone line, theres no reason why your internet connection is any more special.
Which whould you buy?
Unlimited internet £19.99*
50gb/month internet £19.99
* Subject to FUP, and we won't tell you it's 50gb/mo anywhere.
90% of people will go for the first. It's all about perception.
IMO it should be illegal to use the term unlimited when it clearly isn't, but that's the way the law stands at the moment.
Worse, what's started happening is people are complaining about the FUPs, so they're being rewritten with no cap just a vague paragraph about protecting other users. Competition is forcing the prices down to the point that it's hard to make a profit on normal usage let alone heavy usage, so you've got unlimited services with no written cap, massively oversubscribed and underpriced.
In that situation kicking off the high volume users is all they have left.. they've backed themselves into a corner.
Bullshit. I suppose people 25 years ago couldn't learn anything because they had no access to the internet, eh? I suppose people 10 years ago couldn't do much of anything either because the internet was small and slow, eh?
10 years ago...
* My phone company published a pretty decent phone directory, which was delivered to my door. It included listings for the entire city.
* 411 was free on pay phones and only 25 cents from my landline. (A while before that, it was free from the landline too.) Now it costs $3.49 each time we call 411. (Unless we use GOOG-411... but I found out about that on the internet.)
* I could dial 853-1212 and check the time to set my clocks.
* There were pay phones all over the place, and for 25 cents I could talk as long as I wanted to local numbers. The phones had phone books attached in many cases.
* Local businesses stocked all manner of items that were rarely needed, because when they were needed, they were the only way of getting them in the area.
* You could use a telephone to enroll in your classes at the largest public university in the largest state in the US. (A year later it was all online.)
Things have changed a lot in the last 10 years. If you have internet access (and everyone on this thread likely does) you wouldn't notice it as much... but there's a LOT that doesn't exist anymore because you can get it easier online.
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?