Deal between UK Music Industry and ISPs Closing in

On October 26 we reported that UK Music has been established as representative group for all of the other ones that have set to eradicate music piracy in the U.K. Now, Feargal Sharkey, UK Music's chief executive comes forward with the claim that an agreement between the industry and broadband Internet Service Providers (ISP) to crack down on illegal file sharing rises in the horizon.

According to Music Week the statement was made during yesterday’s annual Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) conference held in Eversheds:

According to an ISPA spokesman, Sharkey and those from the ISP community seemed optimistic that “some kind of agreement between rightholders and ISPs can be reached.” He adds, “Everyone wants to work together to make legal online models work.”

This event is preceded by July’s crucial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement (read here) between copyright owners and six of the UK's most important ISPs, which are “responsible” for about 90% of the national broadband market.

To remind you - the initial deal stipulated a principal of sending warning letters to subscribers that have been suspected of illegal file sharing. Yet, while, surprisingly, not much has been talked about the issue since then, customers have been targeted with warning letters by their ISPs.