UK internet service providers and entertainment industry bodies have agreed a deal to help combat the growing issue of piracy, the BBC has reported.
From 2015, BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media will begin sending “educational letters” to customers that they believe are downloading programmes illegally.
Between January and February 2014, Game of Thrones was downloaded illegally over 1.4 million times across the globe, with other titles including Homeland and The Walking Dead nearing the million mark.
Closer to home, a Kantar Media report, produced for Ofcom, revealed that between November 2012 and January 2013, one in six UK internet users over the age of 12 consumed at least one item of online content illegally, with overall infringement rising to 18%.
The report estimated that overall, 52 million TV programmes and 29 million films were watched illegally during the period.
The entertainment industry bodies had originally intended to warn repeat offenders about possible disciplinary action in the letters, and had set out to gain access to a database of known illegal downloaders, however, according to the BBC, the final draft of the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme contains neither of those measures, and will instead be “educational” in tone.
Steve Kuncewicz, a lawyer specialising in online and internet law, told the BBC that the agreement had been “watered down beyond all recognition,” and that the content owners are going to be “very angry” as a result.
“There’s no punitive backstop to any of this,” Kuncewicz added.
