According to the Digital Britain report recommendations ISPs operating within the UK will be required to cut illegal file sharing on their networks by 70% within a year.   New powers will be granted to the communications regulator Ofcom, the report says.

ISPs will be asked to collect data about alleged infringers of online rights.   This infringement can take the form of downloading or uploading content without the prior permission of the rights holder.   ISPs will also be asked to notify infringers that their conduct is illegal.

Persistent infringers may see their details shared with rights holders.   These could include music, film,  games and software companies.   Legal proceedings would follow.

The proposals are set out in chapter 4 of the 245-page report, which is titled “Creative Industries in the Digital World”.

If Ofcom does not see the 70% reduction in filesharing it expects,  government will require it to use its powers to introduce further measures such as the blocking of particular sites and methods of transferring data online in addition to capping the speed and capacity of offenders’ connections.

Your ISP and the Data Communications Bill

What internet users really think about P2P and file sharing