Reports from the U.K.
indicate that six British ISPs have agreed to develop legal online music services in cooperation with a plan developed by the British government, beginning by mailing letters threatening letters to users known to have traded music files illegally. The news arrives several weeks after one ISP, Virgin Media,
said it would send nasty letters to file-sharers, but declined to say whether it would renounce their business by terminating their accounts.
The initial reports don't name the six ISPs, but suggest that confirmation of the agreement and a list of names is due Thursday. It's not immediately clear whether the Internet services will accept the
British Phonographic Industry's longstanding request for a "three-strikes" rule that would result in barring customers from Internet access. The news arrives less than a day after British satellite television provider and connectivity provider British Sky Broadcasting Ltd.
revealed plans to introduce a music subscription service that will include both unlimited streaming music and limited downloads of
DRM-free songs.
CEO Charles Dunstone of The Carphone Warehouse plc, the operator of British ISP TalkTalk,
lashed out at the BPI in April after it proposed that the Internet company warn its users against sharing files. "Our position is very clear, we are the conduit that gives users access
to the Internet, we do not control the Internet nor do we control what
our users do on the Internet,"
wrote Dunstone in a company statement.
American ISPs have been loath to reject business from customers who share music files illegally, and none has introduced a music service to compete with subscription plans such as RealNetworks Inc.'s [
RNWK] Rhapsody or Napster Inc. [
NAPS], or Apple Inc.'s [
AAPL] market-leading downloadable music store, iTunes.
-- Paul BonanosSee July 23 Tech Confidential post about BSkyB's subscription serviceSee June 6 post about Virgin Media's plan to threaten file-sharers
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