Commentary

Virgin Media To Warn File-Sharers

A major broadband provider in the U.K., Virgin Media, and the British Phonographic Industry have just announced they will start sending warning letters to users who they believe are sharing pirated music files.

Virgin Media and the British Phonographic Industry say they intend to simply educate customers about piracy and don't intend to disconnect subscribers now -- but will threaten people that they might be disconnected in the future.

News of the initiative is coming at a time when there's been talk about Internet service providers abroad adopting a "three strikes" rule and disconnecting users caught sharing infringing content on several occasions.

But before Internet service providers get carried away here, they should carefully consider the pitfalls of targeting individuals who are allegedly file-sharing. Just yesterday researchers at the University of Washington published a study showing that companies routinely accuse innocent people of piracy. For the study, three computer scientists examined techniques that media companies use to investigate piracy on BitTorrent and concluded that it's remarkably easy for people to frame innocent users.

The three researchers decided to start the study when they found themselves hit with hundreds of takedown notices accusing them of piracy, when they hadn't uploaded or downloaded any content.

And that's not the only problem with the crude investigatory techniques used today. Another is that sophisticated pirates can encrypt files to avoid detection. Yet a third is that it's hard for any automated system to determine whether people are making fair use of copyrighted material.

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