Broadband ISP Virgin Media UK looks set to be the guinea pig for Detica's new CView system, which is designed to measure copyright infringement on an Internet provider’s network via use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology. Virgin Media has agreed to trial the solution as part of the technological platform for its planned music service.

The news follows shortly after Ofcom confirmed that it had held talks with Detica, a BAE subsidiary specialising in data gathering and processing, about the possible use of its Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) system by UK ISPs (here).

Detica states that CView™ applies high volume, advanced analytics to anonymous ISP traffic data, and aggregates this information into a measure of the total volume of unauthorised file sharing. The tool claims to meet stringent consumer security design principles (whose principles?) to protect privacy and is powered by a fully automated, closed system which does not identify individuals or store their data.



It would perhaps be wrong to point an accusing finger at Virgin Media for using such a technology, which many privacy campaigners have strong reservations about. Indeed we would like to see more publicly released technical details about precisely how the system functions. Ultimately this is something that the government intends to force upon the majority of UK ISPs whether they like it or not.