The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST), a not-for-profit group that campaigns for the legitimate use of software (computer games and applications etc.), has called on UK broadband ISPs to help combat "illegal" (i.e. unlawful) copyright file sharing by their customers through the development of "mutual business models" (such as?).


However so far most ISPs, consumer groups and even a few politicians, have complained of how Rights Holders are themselves far too quick to use the 2010 Digital Economy Act's (DEA) stick and often appear to completely forget about the carrot.


Despite getting most of their own way with the DEA, FAST believes that the software industry needs its own legislation to combat copyright infringement. It claims that the DEA and the existing Copyright Act will be "ineffective" at combating software piracy. This is contradicted by another recent comment.


FAST's latest remarks follow on the back of a new European Commission (EC) report, which claimed that current intellectual property rights’ laws (2004 Directive on Intellectual Property Rights) are not strong enough to combat online IP infringement effectively. This is despite some "noteworthy progress" being made since its introduction.

EC I-P Report Quote

File-sharing of copyright-protected content has become ubiquitous, partly because the development of legal offers of digital content has not been able to keep up with demand, especially on a cross-border basis, and has led many law-abiding citizens to commit massive infringements of copyright and related rights in the form of illegal up-loading and disseminating protected content.

Many online sites are either hosting or facilitating the online distribution of protected works without the consent of the right holders. In this context, the limitations of the existing legal framework may need to be clearly assessed.

There is absolutely no doubt that "online piracy must be taken seriously", although many feel that this should be tempered against a degree of realism about what is and is not workable. The basic letter warning system is a good start and might actually help consumers to identify problems (i.e. with the system itself or on their own home networks), although moving into the tedious arena of punishment is far more difficult.

The DEA threatens to use notoriously unreliable IP address based evidence to identify unlawful file sharing; at best, when the data is actually correct, it will only be able to target the connection owner (could be a hotel or shared network etc.). It could also lead to the blocking of legitimate websites, service speed restrictions, hamper open Wi-Fi services or even cause account disconnection ("suspension") from your ISP.

A lot of Rights Holders also make an assumption that the bulk of any unlawful downloads are equal to lost sales, which many ISPs and consumers feel to be completely unrealistic. For example, a child who downloads 500 music tracks is unlikely to have ever brought anything like that many (i.e. they wouldn't have enough money for it).