After months and months of speculation it has been revealed that the UK government will introduce new legislation with the Digital Britain programme which will make it illegal to share copyrighted files and indeed those who ignore two initial warnings will have their accounts suspended. This is a subject that has split the media and Internet industry with some believing it is a step too far and others applauding the move to protect copyrighted material.
While the move has been declared a last resort by UK Internet service providers, there is already an indication from the likes of British Telecom that excessive account suspensions could increase the cost of broadband services to the UK public. There is concern that broadband providers, who will be expected to invest millions upon millions of pounds in the future, may be unable to accurately forecast their income if a significant number of accounts are suspended at short notice.
There is a need to balance the threat of suspension against the need to protect copyright material which itself will have likely attracted significant investment. Whether the UK government has called this correct is open to debate but as and when the regulations are introduced we will no doubt get a feel for exactly what is going on.