TalkTalk: Bono’s File-sharing Views Are Misguided and Outrageous

January 6, 2010 by Yonah
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Legal P2P News & Issues

TalkTalk, one of the major UK broadband providers, disapproved U2’s frontman’s recent statement on the topic of illegal filesharing.

The company labeled Bono’s claims on piracy published in The New York Times as “seriously misguided”. TalkTalk pointed to several inaccuracies as the claim that broadband providers generate revenue through file-sharing and the need for extra bandwidth means they often incur costs.

Consequently, the suggestion that the battle against file-sharing should follow the same pattern as the one against child pornography was met with harsh criticism.

“If the Digital Economy Bill as it is currently framed becomes law, it will become legal to summarily disconnect someone for alleged copyright abuse but if you want to disconnect them for accessing child abuse images then you will have to get a court order first,” said the company.

One reason for the ISP’s opposition to the government plans to implement a three-strikes legislation is the court issue. TalkTalk and other internet service providers as well have pointed previously in numerous occasions that disconnecting internet users would lead to widespread Wi-FI hijacking which in turn would lead to innocent people also being disconnected.

Tags: anti-piracy, file-sharing, ISPs