In some parts of the world, when you have been detected of piracy, you might get a warning letter from your ISP or even the company that you’re pirating from. We have heard cases of ISPs, movie studios, and record labels sending warning letters, and in some cases even suing those who they believe have pirated their products.
Now it looks like ISPs in the UK will soon start sending out letters of their own as well, thanks to an agreement that they have managed to arrive at with the British music industry body, the BPI, and the Motion Picture Association. However instead of receiving a stern warning letters, ISPs will attempt to educate their users.
The BPI and the MPA originally wanted the letters to contain stern language that will warn of possible legal consequences, but instead the letters will be “promoting an increase in awareness” of legal alternatives to piracy. It also seems that after users have been alerted four times, no action will be taken.
In order to facilitate this program that the BPI and MPA are asking of these ISPs, they are expected to fork out £750,000 to each ISP to help setup such a system, followed by £75,000 a year for additional costs. The ISPs involved include Virgin Media, Sky, BT, and TalkTalk.
However it should be noted that this will need to be approved by the Information Commissioner’s Office as it involves collection of personal data. Assuming that it is approved, these educational letters will start going out in 2015.