• BBC News, Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11 AM

In a move that could spark a widespread consumer backlash, the British government has suggested that users in the UK who illegally download music and films should have their Internet access cut off. The proposal states that Internet service providers should be responsible for policing the initiative, although the government stresses that plans are at a very early stage. Under the proposal, ISPs that fail to enforce the rules would be prosecuted; details of those who engage in illegal downloading would also be made available to the courts.

Media companies have long complained they lose billions of dollars to illegal downloading every year. An estimated 6 million people a year download files illegally in the UK, but the practice is much more widespread in countries like the U.S., China and Sweden.

Meanwhile, in both the U.S. and UK, large ISPs have been in talks with the entertainment industry over voluntarily policing file-sharing activity. The Internet Service Providers Association also claims that data protection laws prevent ISPs from looking at the content of information sent over their networks.

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