BPI on ISP Piracy Warnings: 'Internet Subscribers Will Welcome the Info'

UK record industry head responds to criticisms of recent news that Virgin Media and his group will team up to warn, educate, and ultimately disconnect illegal file-sharers.

British Phonographic Industry (BPI) chief executive Geoff Taylor recently responded in an article on the BBC to criticisms over recent news that his group and Virgin Media will collaborate to fight illegal downloading on its network.

His retort is delusional at best for it fails to acknowledge the fact that the duo will essentially be examining all data that is carried across its network.

Even more laughable is his suggestion that "...most account holders will welcome information that helps them to download legally and avoid the risk of legal action or the cancellation of their contract." I'll bet they get a lot of Christmas cards at the end of the year for all their "welcome information."

In his own words:

We collect and pass on to the ISP publicly available information about their customers' illegal file sharing, and ask them to send advisory letters as outlined above.

The possibility of account suspension, and the ultimate sanction of contract cancellation, should follow for those customers who choose not to take the advice.

So does this also mean that failure to password protect a wi-fi connection will also become a punishable offense? If illegal file-sharing takes place on your account, and even though it wasn't you, does that mean that you can expect to letters and warnings to secure your connection?

He goes on to call it a "...genuine step in the right direction" that somehow "represents a turning point in the music community's bid to restore value in music to its rightful owners: the artists and music companies who invest in their creative careers."

Wasn't the record industry the one who did this long ago when artists became relegated to content producers and it regularly turned out a long list of utterly forgettable pop bands like 92 Degrees, N'Sync, you name it?

And when he preaches abut "restoring value in music to its rightful "owners" is talking about the days when we had to shell out $20 bucks for a CD, of which the artist only got a dollar or two? So he I guess he wants the value back for music industry's sake, not the actual artists.

For more on the issue Bill Thompson, a commentator on BBC's "Digital Planet," also takes the BPI/Virgin Media alliance to task as well.