London – U.K. royalty collection society PRS for Music is
pressing the government there to compel ISPs to compensate the music industry
for the unauthorized music downloads made through their pipes. The group’s
chief economist Will Page published a white paper that calls for varying
tariffs to be paid by ISPs, which would go down in relation to the reduction of
illicit file-sharing on their networks.
"The desired end game is one of no
compensation as there is no pollution of piracy on networks," writes Page.
Some U.K. ISPs have already rejected the idea.
"It would require
monitoring of traffic and this has huge implications in respect of directives
on privacy and data retention," ISP Talk Talk told Sky News.
The PRS for
Music proposal comes on the heels of passage of the Digital Economy Act,
intended to overhaul the U.K.’s digital policies.
"I understand [the PRS
for Music proposal] would require fresh legislation, which we don’t have any
plans for at this time," a spokesperson for the U.K. government’s
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills told the Financial Times.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/25cs8qh
(PRS for Music statement)
http://tinyurl.com/233ocd9
(Sky News)
http://tinyurl.com/3y6e8v3
(Financial Times)
http://tinyurl.com/263cnrp
(PaidContent)
