Virgin Media Starts War

After we told how Virgin Media was building up its attack now we announce you that the company’s crusade has begun. Its customers have already received the first letters from Virgin Media which said that the BPI has proof of illicit online activity (file sharing) conducted from their accounts.

Their main goal is getting ISPs to adopt a 'three strikes and you're out' policy, suspending Internet access for those who committed three offenses.

If you wonder what the letter says, well, here it is:

"We understand you may be concerned about this, and you might be unsure how it happened. One possible answer is that other people in your household have used your computer and/or internet connection, and they might have shared these files with others by using unauthorized ‘peer-to-peer/P2P’ filesharing networks like ‘BitTorrent’ or ‘Limewire’. However, you need to make sure that these files aren’t downloaded or shared from your Virgin Media internet connection in future."

However, it’s rather improbable that ISPs will go for this approach and apply the three-strike policy to which the France government has given the green light.

For England the legislation goes like this: if someone does, or authorizes someone else to do, any of the restricted acts without previously receiving the permission or license of the copyright holder, he is liable of a primary infringement of copyright. Here is the list of these restricted acts:

The Restricted Acts

1. Copying a copyright work.

2. Issuing copies of the copyright work to the public.

3. Performing, showing or playing a copyright work in public.

4. Communicating the work to the public. Communication includes "… electronic transmission in such a way that members of the public may access it from a place and at a time individually chosen by them" (section 20(2)(b), CDPA).