Government to clamp down on illegal downloads

The UK Government is set to introduce rules to control the illegal downloading of music and films.

The Government set a deadline of 31 December 2007 for the music and film industries, and ISPs, to come to a voluntary agreement, but with no sign of an agreement in place, it is now planning to take action itself.

It will publish its options in a strategy document and carry out a public consultation into the problem, later in 2008.

The music industry has suggested that a warning message should be sent to Internet users who frequently download music or films illegally.

If the message is ignored, the user’s account can be suspended or closed. This method is already used in France.

A filtering system is also being considered, which would block illegal downloads.

While ISPs favour a voluntary agreement, the music industry is pushing for legal action, because illegal downloads are pushing down its revenues dramatically.

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