TalkTalk boss slams file sharing crackdown
A TalkTalk boss has said the company is "dismayed" by new measures announced this week for tackling file sharers.
Just a few months ago, Digital Britain published reasonable measures for educating and deterring illegal file sharers, including brief internet blocks, warning letters and court-based action for repeat offenders.
Now Lord Mandelson has announced tougher penalties, including complete disconnection, which TalkTalk's Executive Director of Strategy and Regulation Andrew Heaney says is likely to "breach fundamental human rights".
Sharing the same views as Stuff's very own Tom Dunmore, Heaney said on the company blog that aside from breaching rights such as privacy and data protection, the decision to disconnect an internet service outside the courts will see alleged offenders denied basic legal rights such as the right to appeal.
He added that TalkTalk would be strongly resisting any attempts to introduce laws that made ISPs "internet police" to take action against their customers, instead preferring there be an obligation on ISPs to disclose any data on repeat infringers to right holders to take proper judicial action themselves.
What do you think to Lord Mandelson's recent announcement, and how do you think illegal file sharing should be tackled? Let us know below.
Comments
hooman78
2 years ago
someone send stephen fry to parliment to given then a verbal tongue lashing they deserve for this ridiculous proposal!
cruelbrit
2 years ago
"...Dear Lord Meddlesome,
any chance you could use your powers for good instead of evil, and concentrate on slightly more important cimes happening on the internet like paedophile rings and online credit card scams, rather than go straight for soft targets in the name of protecting the pennies of your business pals, regardless of the potentially massive number of innocent casualties in the wake of your ever-so-suspect crusade?
Yours sincerely,
The people of the UK who last time we checked, weren't as stupid as you thought..."
Let's face it, the whole planet kinda knows that this little gem of his only appeared after that 'holiday lunch' he had with media mogul David Geffen...we're not stupid.
ISP's should stick to their guns and provide access to the internet, not take on extra work at the risk of degrading their service.
They'd still expect someone to pay for a full 20mb broadband service every month, despite having it choked down to 2mb for downloading too many Metallica albums. I'm sure that they'd have lots of fun trying to deal with that headache on top of the small matter of the majority of us not getting anywhere near what we pay for in our broadband speed as it is.
Thankfully, it seems that so far, they all agree that it's simply not their job.
You wouldn't ask your milkman to hang around on your doorstep to keep the birds from nicking the cream from the top of your pinta, would you?