Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the British Phonographic Industry
2 for 1 tickets to Singin' In The Rain, this coming Monday. Book now
The music business wants to partner internet service providers to create new services that would deliver even greater value for music lovers, artists, labels and ISPs.
An internet that rewards creativity, while offering music lovers unprecedented choice and value for money, is in the long-term interest of all of us.
We simply want ISPs to advise customers if their account is being used to distribute music illegally, and then, if the advice is ignored, enforce their own terms and conditions about abuse of the account. But despite some agreements in principle, the ISPs refuse to do this on any meaningful scale.
For years, ISPs have built a business on other people’s music. Yet they have paid nothing to the creators of that music, and done little or nothing to address illegal downloading via their networks. This costs the music business hundreds of millions of pounds a year. We support new ways of selling music legally online. But these services are being stifled by a culture of something for nothing from which big telecoms corporations continue to profit at the expense of the music community.
For well over a year, the BPI has been trying to encourage ISPs to introduce reasonable measures that could remove the need to bring legal action against the six million British broadband customers who regularly use peer-to-peer networks to download music unlawfully.
This is the No 1 issue for the creative industries in the digital age, and the Government’s willingness to tackle it should be applauded. Now is not the time for ISPs to hide behind bogus privacy arguments, or to claim that the problem is too complicated or difficult to tackle.
Enjoy screenings of all the classic films you love, plus take advantage of two-for-one tickets
Have you ever dreamed of owning your own racehorse or a beautiful painting?
Enjoy comfort, safety, space and great design. Plus enter our great competition
Times Online's new TV show helps you make the right decisions for your pet
Are you California dreaming? Explore the wonders of the Golden State. Also enter our fantastic competition
Do you have what it takes to be a Times photographer?
Your brain is capable of more than you might think...
Find out to make the most of your money with our wealth management guides
Need help with your property? We have an entire how to guide - buying, selling, letting, moving, to help you
We are seeking entries for the inaugural Sunday Times Best Green Companies Awards
Enjoy some wonderful inspiring wildlife moments
An interactive preview of the brand new For Your Eyes Only exhibition

Love Sudoku? Play our brand new interactive game: with added functionality and daily prizes

Are you irritable when you return from work? Drained of emotion? You could be suffering from boreout
Prepare for some shock and awe, petrol lovers. Despite the greens trying to wipe it out, the car is about to offer us the most exciting year ever
We've trawled the brochures and websites to find this summer’s best holidays for every taste and budget


Get our new mobile internet service.
Text Times to 86626


Great escapes, perfect kit and heroic obsessions
2007/07
£57,500
South East England
2007/07
£40,995
South East England
2006/06
£41,995
South East England
Great car insurance deals online
£40-55k+benefits+uncapped commission
Morgan Keating
South East
Up to £30,000
GLE
London
£
c£75,000 + executive benefits
Morgan Keating
London and South
Unpaid with travel expenses
Network Rail
Globrix, the property search engine
Visit Times Online Property for homes for sale or rent
Residential development site with planning permission
£1,500,000
Mortgages, bank accounts & money transfers to help you buy abroad
Dinarobin Hotel Golf & Spa 7 nights
From £1830 per person – saving £530.
Walking & multi-activity holidays in Cauterets. Stylish self-catering apartments.
From 350€ for 7 nights.
SAVE 25% on Sandals Luxury Resorts
Great travel insurance deals online
Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times. Search globrix.com to buy or rent UK property.
© Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions. Please read our Privacy Policy.To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online, The Times or The Sunday Times, click here.This website is published by a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69.
The problem is, that "The music industry" cannot separate Legal P2P Downloads from their Property on the P2P Network.
Sure, they can often see if someone has a file on offer for download, but intercepting and analysing all Data Packets for Pirated Content is beyond their Resources. (as in not cost effective)
Please understand that not all Internet Traffic is P2P Network Traffic, and not all P2P Traffic is illeagal (although I won't argue what the percentages are on this one).
Nick, Emsdetten, Germany
I don't know about you Alan, but I'm not willing to trade in every single shread of my online privacy (you know, like bank details, identity, private emails to my girlfriend, my own original, copyrighted works, etc) so that a private (yes, private!) business, the music industry, can send someone a bill. You would not want the music industry opening all your mail and listening to all your telephone conversations in case you might be committing copyright infringement, so why suggest they do it to our internet traffic? Whatever you may think, it's not easier. It's considerably more difficult. And robs all service-users of quite a lot of things we'd class as rights.
Andy has it rather well: many crimes are not possible without telephone/mail, but you can't punish the telephone/mail services. It's the criminal who is at fault, not the service provider.
ISP's have not built a business on music.
Privacy arguments are NOT bogus arguments.
The music industry needs to face reality.
Craig Sutherland, Edinburgh,
I am completely with the first poster on this, I have lost count of the amount of 'intellectual property' I have lost through poor media (CDs and DVD splitting/scratching!, tapes getting worn, VHS anyone?). I'm sorry but I don't pay 10-15 pounds for a peice of plastic, I pay 10-15 for the right to view/listen to the content.
It's funny how the media corporations don't make it very easy for people to replace already purchased material or backup their existing media. I really think they expect you will just go out and repurchase the 'intellectual property' being as stupid as you are, and lets not forget the Greatest Hits (CDs) or the Super Ultimate - Directors Cut 6 DVD Editions (thats after two previuos editions) that, you know they're gonna sell ya!
So how about, YOU sort out YOUR Industry for a start, get the consumer on side again and here's a thought... Lower your prices to a point where people would rather download/buy your material from you, than cheat you - or your artist's.
James, New Malden, U.K
Digital Rights Managment isn't an ISP issue. It's a bit like saying that if I steal something from someone, stick it in a box and post it to a friend the Post Office should have to pay money to the original owner.
The point is that the music companies can't find a way to solve their problem so they are trying to get someone else to do it for them.
This is coming from the perople that for years have made a business out of forcing people to rebuy music they've bought before on new media. I've probably bought Made in Japan four times now!
andy, Torquay,
The music industry should measure the illegal downloads from an ISP and simply send the ISP the bill monthly. Then action will occur.
Alan, San Francisco, US