26/08/2009

Minister for Digital Britain Stephen Timms has dismissed methods like reducing Internet speeds and blocking access to illegal content sites as too slow and has instead proposed a complete termination of Internet connections for repeat online piracy offenders.

Timms said, “We’ve been listening carefully to responses to the consultation this far, and it’s become clear there are widespread concerns that the plans as they stand could delay action, impacting unfairly upon rights holders.”

UK Film Council Chairman Tim Bevan welcomed the announcement saying, “Piracy is the single biggest threat facing the film industry. It’s illegal, it’s endangering tens of thousands of British jobs, it means film-lovers suffer by reduced investment in new content - and it needs to be tackled urgently.

“So we welcome today’s announcement, which speeds up the whole process and makes it clear that film piracy in whatever form is destructive and unacceptable. These are common-sense proposals, and we’re keen to continue working with government, consumers and industry to ensure we can both reduce film theft and steer audiences towards places where they can legally enjoy films online.”

However, Internet service provider Talk Talk has condemned the announcement as a breach of fundamental human rights. The Internet freedom Open Rights Group’s Jim Killock said, “It smacks of a knee-jerk reaction at a time when copyright infringement is reducing and online revenues are increasing.”

Around 7 million of the UK’s 61 million population believed to be illegally downloading films on a regular basis, resulting in an estimated annual £1.4 billion loss to the British film industry.