Internet service providers in the United Kingdom will send out "educational" anti-piracy letters to customers who are suspected of downloading illegal content.
After years of negotiating with content providers, BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin media have all agreed to notify customers whom they suspect to be infringing on the copyrights of content providers. The ISPs will send letters, also known as "alerts," either by email or snail mail to their customers. These letters will be intended for "promoting an increase in awareness" of legal downloading services, but there will be no mention of consequences.
The BPI, which represents the British music industry, and the Motion Pictures Association do not seem pleased about the final agreement. A document obtained by the BBC shows the agreement, dubbed the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (Vcap), forces rights holders to settle for "considerably weaker" measures to combat piracy.
Media and Internet lawyer Steve Kuncewicz told the BBC that content providers and rights holders are not happy about the agreement, saying it has been "watered down beyond recognition."
"I imagine content owners are going to be very angry about it. There's no punitive backstop to any of this," he said.
The Vcap mandates ISPs to send letters to customers who are suspected of using illegal downloading services, such as torrent downloading. There will be a total of four letters sent to each customer, with each one to "escalate in severity" after the other. The letters, however, will not contain threats or consequences for anyone found out to be downloading illegally from the Internet.
Originally, rights holders suggested that ISPs should speak about punitive measures for repeat offenders. They also asked that a list of known copyright infringers be provided to them for the possibility of pursuing lawsuits against them.
The Vcap, however, does not contain any of these provisions. ISPs will be required to provide rights holders with a monthly breakdown of the number of alerts that have been sent out, but they are not mandated to provide the identities of known illegal downloaders. Between the four ISPs, only 2.5 million alerts will be sent out each year, which means one ISP can send up to 625,000 alerts every year. The ISPs will not be required any further action after the four alerts have been sent.
The rights holders will also pay each ISP £750,000 or 75% of the cost of setting up the alert system, whichever is higher, and another £75,000 or 75% for annual administration costs.
The Vcap will run for three years from 2015 through 2018, with regular evaluations. Should the system be found ineffective, right holders have said they will call for "rapid implantation" of more stringent measures as outlined in the Digital Economy Act of 2010.
"The rights holders have accepted they can't use this process to go after individuals. The ISPs have insisted that already established, legal routes are used in that scenario. Instead, the purpose of any campaign will be to inform and raise awareness rather than punitive action," a source privy to the negotiations told the BBC.
