File sharing in the United Kingdom: Difference between revisions

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File sharing in the United Kingdom relates to the distribution of digital media in that country. In 2010, there were over 18.3 million households connected to the Internet in the United Kingdom, with 63% of these having a broadband connection. There are also many public Internet access points such as public libraries and Internet cafes.^[1]

In 2009, an online survey undertaken by Harris Interactive on behalf of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) stated that of 3,442 people surveyed in the UK, 1,012 (29%) reported downloading music from peer-to-peer networks, giving an indication of the level of file sharing occurring in the UK.^[2]

A survey by XTN Data in 2006 found that of the 1000 people interviewed, 28% admitted to having downloaded copyrighted material without paying for it.^[3]

Legislation

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Digital Economy Act 2010 are applicable to and may be breached by file sharing activity.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 aims to protect the intellectual property rights of the creator or copyright holder. File sharing violates this act when the copyright owner has not given permission for its material to be shared.^[4]

The Digital Economy Act 2017 changed the penalties related to copyright infringement. The legislation is concerned more directly with copyright on the Internet than previous legislation that was more concerned with commercial abuse of copyright.^[5]

Action to prevent illegal file sharing

Institutions such as the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) sought help from the government to force Internet service providers (ISPs) to identify those users suspected of file sharing and to take action against them. With the backing of the government this was made part of the Digital Economy Act and passed into law after parliamentary debate in April 2010.^[6] A list of domain names affected by court orders is maintained on the website ukispcourtorders.co.uk by BT plc,^[7]^[8] a similar list is hosted by Sky.^[9]

As a result of this pressure, the five main ISPs (BT, Virgin Media, Sky, TalkTalk, EE) became responsible for the notification of users identified by the BPI. The notification will be a cease and desist order that will threaten legal action if the behaviour continues or if a compensation payment is not made. Further steps can also be taken by ISP's, if the identified users continue to breach copyright, such as the restriction of the bandwidth available to them or even total disconnection and possible bans or suspensions from the Internet. The movie industry has also signed up to seek action against those it has determined to be persistent infringers of its copyrights.^[10]

However, amendments proposed in 2010 to the Digital Economy Bill by the industry regulator Ofcom, made ISPs with fewer than 400,000 subscribers exempt. Also exempt are ISPs that provide mobile broadband access due in part to the way in which this service operates. One of the main reasons for providing the exemption is the costs and time-scale required for smaller ISPs to put the monitoring in place.^[11]

The legality of the software used by ISPs to monitor the Internet activity of suspected illegal file-sharers has itself been called into question because of concerns over the privacy issues that its use raises. Virgin Media want to use new software called Cview, which monitors activity and compares any downloaded material to a database of copyrighted material in order to determine if there has been an infringement. As of 2010 this software was being evaluated for suitability by the European Commission and Ofcom with particular attention to whether the software violates privacy or data protection directives.^[12]

The music industry in Britain is not the only industry to seek action against illegal file sharing. The computer games industry, worth an estimated £2 billion, also sought compensation for copyright infringement. Five major game companies: Atari, Codemasters, TopWare Interactive, Reality Pump and Techland, sent notices to over 25,000 UK Internet users they feel have breached their copyright by downloading or sharing games on file sharing websites. The companies demanded a payment of £300 in order to settle the matter out of court, warning that non-payment would result in legal action. In what was a landmark case in terms of file sharing, one company, Topware Interactive, took a user, Isabella Barwinska, to court over copyright infringement of its game Dream Pinball 3D, which had been illegally downloaded, uploaded, and shared with many other users. The court found in favour of Topware Interactive and imposed a penalty of £16,000.^[13]

In July 2010 the music company, Ministry of Sound, also sent notices to Internet users it claimed had breached its copyright by downloading music tracks. Notices were sent to around 2,000 users via London lawyers Gallant Macmillan demanding a compensation payment of around £350 in order to avoid legal action. Many users have challenged these claims, stating either their innocence or challenging the legality of the action taken.^[14]

The BPI, however, does not support mass mailing to end users, preferring to target persistent uploaders who make copyrighted material available to others and persistent downloaders.^[14]

The BPI has also complained to Google about illegal downloads and the ease with which these can be located or identified using its search engine, believing that Google has a responsibility to help prevent access to such material and that links to the infringing materials should be removed. This material is not actually hosted by Google, but by sites locatable through the use of Google's services.^[15]

April 2012 saw the UK high court order five leading UK ISPs to block access to Swedish file sharing website The Pirate Bay.^[16] The case was brought after the ISPs refused to block the site voluntarily^[17] and after one ISP was ordered to block a similar site Newzbin2 in July 2011.^[18]

Discussions between the Intellectual Property Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and search engines Google and Bing led to the announcement in February 2017 of a voluntary code of practice, under which websites associated with copyright violation would be demoted within search engine rankings. Implementation was expected to begin by the summer of that year.^[19]

Opposition

There are groups which actively oppose the actions taken by institutions like BPI and the government's copyright policy, most of these groups are opposed to either the criminalisation of file sharers or the privacy infringements from Internet monitoring. The Open Rights Group and Pirate Party UK are prominent examples. These groups are opposed to the copyright infringement provisions of the Digital Economy Act.

UK ISP TalkTalk has openly stated that they will refuse to send warning letters to their customers or hand over any of their personal information, even if it became a legal requirement for them to do so.^[20]^[21] TalkTalk has stated that the "government's plans to punish people suspected of illegal downloading are an assault on human rights",^[22] and pledged to fight government anti-piracy laws.^[21] In 2010 TalkTalk launched a major campaign, Don't Disconnect Us, against government plans to disconnect connections suspected of repeat copyright infringement.^[23]

Opposition has also come from English comedian, actor, writer, and director, Stephen Fry, who has defended non-commercial "piracy", supported TalkTalk's Don't Disconnect Us campaign^[24] and admitted to using BitTorrent to download episodes of House and 24.^[25]^[26]

References

^ Internet Access 70% of households had access in 2009 Archived 25 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, National Statistics Online.
^ Growing Threat From Illegal Web Downloads Archived 22 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 18 December 2009.
^ John Oates Thousands more file sharers sued Archived 10 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, 4 April 2006.
^ Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Archived 20 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Factsheet: Digital Economy Act – contents and commencement.
^ Digital Economy Act 2010 becomes law Archived 17 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine, 9 April 2010.
^ Meale, Darren (31 July 2015). "Access Blocked! There are now 500 websites blocked by UK ISPs, when you count all the mirrors and proxies". elexica. Simmons & Simmons. Archived from the original on 3 August 2015.
^ "Whois Lookup Captcha". Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
^ "Blocked websites". 16 May 2018. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
^ Nate Lanxon, Government wins: Major UK ISPs forced to fight piracy for BPI Archived 3 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 24 July 2008.
^ Tom Jowitt, Ofcom Lets Small ISPs Off Filesharing Laws Archived 21 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 19 May 2010.
^ Dinah Greek, European Commission to monitor Virgin Media's use of CView Computeractive Archived 31 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 28 January 2010.
^ Rees, Gwyneth (19 August 2008). "Computer games: Industry acts on illegal downloads". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ ^a ^b Miles Brignall, File sharers targeted with legal action over music Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 17 July 2010.
^ Nicole Kobie, BPI complains to Google over music downloads Archived 25 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 22 June 2010.
^ Josh Halliday, British ISPs will block The Pirate Bay... Archived 26 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
^ BBC, The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK ISPs, court rules Archived 15 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
^ BBC, BT ordered to block links to Newzbin 2 website Archived 11 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine.
^ "Google and Bing to demote piracy websites". The Guardian. 20 February 2017. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
^ "TalkTalkBlog - Digital Economy Bill. It's a wash up". Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Talk Talk boss says it will fight government anti-piracy plans". Electricpig. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
^ TalkTalk says piracy law infringes human rights Archived 27 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Don't Disconnect Us Archived 27 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Carrie-Ann Skinner. "Stephen Fry backs TalkTalk's net piracy campaign". PC Advisor.
^ "Stephen Fry Admits He's a BitTorrent Pirate - TorrentFreak". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
^ "Stephen Fry defends non-commercial piracy". AfterDawn. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

[1] Internet Access 70% of households had access in 2009 Archived 25 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, National Statistics Online.

[2] Growing Threat From Illegal Web Downloads Archived 22 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 18 December 2009.

[3] John Oates Thousands more file sharers sued Archived 10 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, 4 April 2006.

[4] Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Archived 20 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine.

[5] Factsheet: Digital Economy Act – contents and commencement.

[6] Digital Economy Act 2010 becomes law Archived 17 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine, 9 April 2010.

[7] Meale, Darren (31 July 2015). "Access Blocked! There are now 500 websites blocked by UK ISPs, when you count all the mirrors and proxies". elexica. Simmons & Simmons. Archived from the original on 3 August 2015.

[8] "Whois Lookup Captcha". Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2019.

[9] "Blocked websites". 16 May 2018. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2019.

[10] Nate Lanxon, Government wins: Major UK ISPs forced to fight piracy for BPI Archived 3 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 24 July 2008.

[11] Tom Jowitt, Ofcom Lets Small ISPs Off Filesharing Laws Archived 21 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 19 May 2010.

[12] Dinah Greek, European Commission to monitor Virgin Media's use of CView Computeractive Archived 31 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 28 January 2010.

[13] Rees, Gwyneth (19 August 2008). "Computer games: Industry acts on illegal downloads". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

[guardian1-14] Miles Brignall, File sharers targeted with legal action over music Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 17 July 2010.

[15] Nicole Kobie, BPI complains to Google over music downloads Archived 25 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 22 June 2010.

[16] Josh Halliday, British ISPs will block The Pirate Bay... Archived 26 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine.

[17] BBC, The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK ISPs, court rules Archived 15 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine.

[18] BBC, BT ordered to block links to Newzbin 2 website Archived 11 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine.

[19] "Google and Bing to demote piracy websites". The Guardian. 20 February 2017. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.

[20] "TalkTalkBlog - Digital Economy Bill. It's a wash up". Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

[Electricpig-21] "Talk Talk boss says it will fight government anti-piracy plans". Electricpig. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

[22] TalkTalk says piracy law infringes human rights Archived 27 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine.

[23] Don't Disconnect Us Archived 27 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine.

[24] Carrie-Ann Skinner. "Stephen Fry backs TalkTalk's net piracy campaign". PC Advisor.

[25] "Stephen Fry Admits He's a BitTorrent Pirate - TorrentFreak". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

[26] "Stephen Fry defends non-commercial piracy". AfterDawn. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

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+{{File sharing sidebar}}
-{{citecheck |date=September 2010}}
+'''File sharing in the United Kingdom''' relates to the distribution of digital media in that country. In 2010, there were over 18.3 million households connected to the [[Internet in the United Kingdom]], with 63% of these having a [[broadband access|broadband connection]]. There are also many public Internet access points such as public libraries and [[Internet cafes]].<ref>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=8 Internet Access 70% of households had access in 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825040932/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=8 |date=25 August 2011 }}, National Statistics Online.</ref>
-{{Filesharing}}
-'''File sharing in the United Kingdom''' relates to the distribution of digital media in that country. In 2010, there were over 18.3 million households connected to the [[Internet in the United Kingdom]], with 63% of these having a [[broadband access|broadband connection]]. There are also many public Internet access points such as public libraries and [[Internet cafes]].<ref>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=8 Internet Access 70% of households had access in 2009], National Statistics Online.</ref>
-In 2009 an on-line survey undertaken by [[Harris Interactive]] on behalf of the [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI) stated that of 3442 people in the UK, 1012 (29%) reported downloading music from [[peer to peer network]]s, giving an indication of the level of file sharing occurring in the UK.<ref>[http://www.bpi.co.uk/press-area/news-amp3b-press-release/article/growing-threat-from-illegal-web-downloads.aspx Growing Threat From Illegal Web Downloads], 18 December 2009.</ref>
+In 2009, an online survey undertaken by [[Harris Insights & Analytics|Harris Interactive]] on behalf of the [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI) stated that of 3,442 people surveyed in the UK, 1,012 (29%) reported downloading music from [[peer-to-peer network]]s, giving an indication of the level of file sharing occurring in the UK.<ref>[http://www.bpi.co.uk/press-area/news-amp3b-press-release/article/growing-threat-from-illegal-web-downloads.aspx Growing Threat From Illegal Web Downloads] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922221526/http://bpi.co.uk/press-area/news-amp3b-press-release/article/growing-threat-from-illegal-web-downloads.aspx |date=22 September 2010 }}, 18 December 2009.</ref>
-A survey by XTN Data in 2006 found that of the 1000 people interviewed,  28% admitted to have downloading copyrighted material without paying for it.<ref>John Oates [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/04/ifpi_sues_more_people/ Thousands more file sharers sued], 4 April 2006.</ref>
+A survey by XTN Data in 2006 found that of the 1000 people interviewed, 28% admitted to having downloaded copyrighted material without paying for it.<ref>John Oates [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/04/ifpi_sues_more_people/ Thousands more file sharers sued] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810132443/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/04/ifpi_sues_more_people/ |date=10 August 2017 }}, 4 April 2006.</ref>
 ==Legislation==
 The [[Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988]] and the [[Digital Economy Act 2010]] are applicable to and may be breached by file sharing activity.
-The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 aims to protect the [[intellectual property rights]] of the creator or [[copyright holder]]. File sharing violates this act when the copyright owner has not given permission for its material to be shared.<ref>[http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/uk_law_summary Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988].</ref>
+The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 aims to protect the [[intellectual property rights]] of the creator or [[copyright holder]]. File sharing violates this act when the copyright owner has not given permission for its material to be shared.<ref>[http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/uk_law_summary Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920020303/http://copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/uk_law_summary |date=20 September 2010 }}.</ref>
-The Digital Economy Act changed the penalties related to [[copyright infringement]]. The legislation is concerned more directly with copyright on the Internet than previous legislation that was more concerned with commercial abuse of copyright.<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100511084737/interactive.bis.gov.uk/digitalbritain/ Factsheet: Digital Economy Act – contents and commencement].</ref>
+The [[Digital Economy Act 2017]] changed the penalties related to [[copyright infringement]]. The legislation is concerned more directly with copyright on the Internet than previous legislation that was more concerned with commercial abuse of copyright.<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100511084737/interactive.bis.gov.uk/digitalbritain/ Factsheet: Digital Economy Act – contents and commencement].</ref>
 ==Action to prevent illegal file sharing==
+Institutions such as the [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI) sought help from the government to force [[Internet service provider]]s (ISPs) to identify those users suspected of file sharing and to take action against them. With the backing of the government this was made part of the Digital Economy Act and passed into law after parliamentary debate in April 2010.<ref>[http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/top-stories/450077/digital-economy-act-2010-becomes-law Digital Economy Act 2010 becomes law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117220403/https://subscribe.webuser.co.uk/ |date=17 January 2023 }}, 9 April 2010.</ref>  A list of domain names affected by court orders is maintained on the website ukispcourtorders.co.uk by [[BT plc]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elexica.com/en/legal-topics/intellectual-property/30-access-blocked-uk-isps|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803100549/http://www.elexica.com/en/legal-topics/intellectual-property/30-access-blocked-uk-isps|archive-date=3 August 2015|title=Access Blocked! There are now 500 websites blocked by UK ISPs, when you count all the mirrors and proxies|date=31 July 2015|first=Darren|last=Meale|publisher=Simmons & Simmons|website=elexica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://whois.domaintools.com/ukispcourtorders.co.uk |title=Whois Lookup Captcha |access-date=15 September 2019 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210021923/https://whois.domaintools.com/ukispcourtorders.co.uk |url-status=live }}</ref>  a similar list is hosted by Sky.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/Blocked-websites/ta-p/2204638|title = Blocked websites|date = 16 May 2018|access-date = 15 September 2019|archive-date = 15 January 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200115181708/https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/Blocked-websites/ta-p/2204638|url-status = live}}</ref>
+As a result of this pressure, the five main ISPs ([[BT Group|BT]], [[Virgin Media]], [[BSkyB|Sky]], [[TalkTalk Group|TalkTalk]], [[EE (telecommunications)|EE]]) became responsible for the notification of users identified by the BPI. The notification will be a [[cease and desist order]] that will threaten legal action if the behaviour continues or if a compensation payment is not made. Further steps can also be taken by ISP's, if the identified users continue to breach copyright, such as the restriction of the bandwidth available to them or even total disconnection and possible bans or suspensions from the Internet. The movie industry has also signed up to seek action against those it has determined to be persistent infringers of its copyrights.<ref>Nate Lanxon, [http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalmusic/government-wins-major-uk-isps-forced-to-fight-piracy-for-bpi-49298280/ Government wins: Major UK ISPs forced to fight piracy for BPI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303073548/http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalmusic/government-wins-major-uk-isps-forced-to-fight-piracy-for-bpi-49298280/ |date=3 March 2012 }}, 24 July 2008.</ref>
-Institutions such as the [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI) sought help from the government to force [[Internet Service Providers]] (ISPs) to identify those users suspected of file sharing and to take action against them. With the backing of the government this was made part of the Digital Economy Act and passed into law after Parliamentary debate in April 2010.<ref>[http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/top-stories/450077/digital-economy-act-2010-becomes-law Digital Economy Act 2010 becomes law], 9 April 2010.</ref>
+However, amendments proposed in 2010 to the [[Digital Economy Act 2010|Digital Economy Bill]] by the industry regulator [[Ofcom]], made ISPs with fewer than 400,000 subscribers exempt. Also exempt are ISPs that provide mobile broadband access due in part to the way in which this service operates. One of the main reasons for providing the exemption is the costs and time-scale required for smaller ISPs to put the monitoring in place.<ref>Tom Jowitt, [http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/ofcom-to-exempt-small-isps-from-filesharing-laws-7150 Ofcom Lets Small ISPs Off Filesharing Laws] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521052022/http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/ofcom-to-exempt-small-isps-from-filesharing-laws-7150 |date=21 May 2010 }},  19 May 2010.</ref>
-As a result of this pressure, the five main ISPs ([[BT Group|BT]], [[Virgin Media]], [[BSkyB|Sky]], [[TalkTalk Group|TalkTalk]], [[EE (telecommunications company)|EE]]) became responsible for the notification of users identified by the BPI. The notification will be a [[cease and desist order]] that will threaten legal action if the behaviour continues or if a compensation payment is not made. Further steps can also be taken by ISP's, if the identified users continue to breach copyright, such as the restriction of the bandwidth available to them or even total disconnection and possible bans or suspensions from the Internet. The movie industry has also signed up to seek action against those it has determined to be persistent infringers of its copyrights.<ref>Nate Lanxon, [http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalmusic/government-wins-major-uk-isps-forced-to-fight-piracy-for-bpi-49298280/ Government wins: Major UK ISPs forced to fight piracy for BPI], 24 July 2008.</ref>
+The legality of the software used by ISPs to monitor the Internet activity of suspected illegal file-sharers has itself been called into question because of concerns over the privacy issues that its use raises. [[Virgin Media]] want to use new software called Cview, which monitors activity and compares any downloaded material to a database of copyrighted material in order to determine if there has been an infringement. As of 2010 this software was being evaluated for suitability by the [[European Commission]] and [[Ofcom]] with particular attention to whether the software violates privacy or data protection directives.<ref>Dinah Greek, [http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/news/2256971/european-commission-monitor European Commission to monitor Virgin Media's use of CView Computeractive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131080941/http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/news/2256971/european-commission-monitor |date=31 January 2010 }}, 28 January 2010.</ref>
-However, amendments proposed in 2010 to the Digital Economy Bill by the industry regulator [[Ofcom]], made ISPs with fewer than 400,000 subscribers exempt. Also exempt are ISPs that provide mobile broadband access due in part to the way in which this service operates. Exemption for these ISPs may result in users transferring from the larger ISPs to smaller ones. One of the main reasons for providing the exemption is the costs and time-scale required for smaller ISPs to put the monitoring in place.<ref>Tom Jowitt, [http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/ofcom-to-exempt-small-isps-from-filesharing-laws-7150 Ofcom Lets Small ISPs Off Filesharing Laws],  19 May 2010.</ref>
+The music industry in Britain is not the only industry to seek action against illegal file sharing. The computer games industry, worth an estimated £2 billion, also sought compensation for copyright infringement. Five major game companies: [[Atari]], [[Codemasters]], [[TopWare Interactive]], [[Reality Pump Studios|Reality Pump]] and [[Techland]], sent notices to over 25,000 [[United Kingdom|UK]] Internet users they feel have breached their copyright by downloading or sharing games on file sharing websites. The companies demanded a payment of £300 in order to settle the matter out of court, warning that non-payment would result in legal action. In what was a landmark case in terms of file sharing, one company, [[Topware Interactive]], took a user, Isabella Barwinska, to court over copyright infringement of its game [[Dream Pinball 3D]], which had been illegally downloaded, uploaded, and shared with many other users. The court found in favour of Topware Interactive and imposed a penalty of £16,000.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/aug/20/piracy.games |title=Computer games: Industry acts on illegal downloads |last=Rees |first=Gwyneth |date=2008-08-19 |work=The Guardian |access-date=2019-11-06 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=6 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106120747/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/aug/20/piracy.games |url-status=live }}</ref>
-The legality of the software used by ISPs to monitor the Internet activity of suspected illegal file sharers has itself been called into question because of concerns over the privacy issues that its use raises. [[Virgin Media]] want to use new software called Cview, which monitors activity and compares any downloaded material to a database of copyrighted material in order to determine if there has been an infringement. As of 2010 this software was being evaluated for suitability by the [[European Commission]] and [[Ofcom]] with particular attention to whether the software violates privacy or data protection directives.<ref>Dinah Greek, [http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/news/2256971/european-commission-monitor European Commission to monitor Virgin Media's use of CView Computeractive], 28 January 2010.</ref>
+In July 2010 the music company, [[Ministry of Sound]], also sent notices to Internet users it claimed had breached its copyright by downloading music tracks. Notices were sent to around 2,000 users via London lawyers Gallant Macmillan demanding a compensation payment of around £350 in order to avoid legal action. Many users have challenged these claims, stating either their innocence or challenging the legality of the action taken.<ref name="guardian1">Miles Brignall, [https://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/jul/17/file-sharers-legal-action-music-downloads File sharers targeted with legal action over music] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307174807/http://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/jul/17/file-sharers-legal-action-music-downloads |date=7 March 2016 }}, ''The Guardian'', 17 July 2010.</ref>
-The music industry in Britain is not the only industry to seek action against illegal file sharing. The computer games industry, worth an estimated £2 billion, also sought compensation for copyright infringement. Five major game companies: [[Atari]], [[Codemasters]], [[TopWare Interactive]], [[Reality Pump Studios|Reality Pump]] and [[Techland]], sent notices to over 25,000 [[United Kingdom|UK]] Internet users they feel have breached their copyright by downloading or sharing games on file sharing websites. The companies demanded a payment of £300 in order to settle the matter out of court, warning that non-payment would result in legal action. In what was a landmark case in terms of file sharing, one company, [[Topware Interactive]], took a user, Isabella Barwinska, to court over copyright infringement of its game [[Dream Pinball 3D]], which had been illegally downloaded, uploaded, and shared with many other users. The court found in favour of Topware Interactive and imposed a penalty of £16,000. Following this case Topware Interactive began planning action against those Internet users known to have downloaded the game from Mrs. Barwinska even though there was no financial gain involved.<ref>Paul Revoir, [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046607/Mother-fined-16-000-downloading-pinball-game-landmark-filesharing-case.html Up to 25,000 British illegal downloaders sued for £300 as games developers turn to courts], Mail Online, 21 August 2008.</ref>
-In July 2010 the music company, [[Ministry of Sound]], also sent notices to Internet users it claimed had breached its copyright by downloading music tracks. Notices were sent to around 2,000 users via London lawyers Gallant Macmillan demanding a compensation payment of around £350 in order to avoid legal action. Many users have challenged these claims, stating either their innocence or challenging the legality of the action taken.<ref name="guardian1">Miles Brignall, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jul/17/file-sharers-legal-action-music-downloads File sharers targeted with legal action over music], ''The Guardian'', 17 July 2010.</ref>
 The BPI, however, does not support mass mailing to end users, preferring to target persistent uploaders who make copyrighted material available to others and persistent downloaders.<ref name="guardian1"/>
-The BPI has also complained to [[Google]] about illegal downloads and the ease with which these can be located or identified using its [[Google search|search engine]], believing that Google has a responsibility to help prevent access to such material and that links to the infringing materials should be removed. Although it should be noted that this material is not actually hosted by Google, but by sites locatable through the use of Google's services.<ref>Nicole Kobie, [http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/358894/bpi-complains-to-google-over-music-downloads#ixzz0vlGwpbT1 BPI complains to Google over music downloads], 22 June 2010.</ref>
+The BPI has also complained to [[Google]] about illegal downloads and the ease with which these can be located or identified using its [[Google Search|search engine]], believing that Google has a responsibility to help prevent access to such material and that links to the infringing materials should be removed. This material is not actually hosted by Google, but by sites locatable through the use of Google's services.<ref>Nicole Kobie, [http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/358894/bpi-complains-to-google-over-music-downloads#ixzz0vlGwpbT1 BPI complains to Google over music downloads] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625145555/http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/358894/bpi-complains-to-google-over-music-downloads#ixzz0vlGwpbT1 |date=25 June 2010 }}, 22 June 2010.</ref>
-April 2012 saw the UK high court order five leading UK ISPs to block access to Swedish file sharing website [[The Pirate Bay]].<ref>Josh Halliday, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/30/british-isps-block-pirate-bay British ISPs will block The Pirate Bay...].</ref> The case was brought after the ISPs refused to block the site voluntarily<ref>BBC, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17894176 The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK ISPs, court rules].</ref> and after one ISP was ordered to block a similar site [[Newzbin]]2 in July 2011.<ref>BBC, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14322957 BT ordered to block links to Newzbin 2 website].</ref>
+April 2012 saw the UK high court order five leading UK ISPs to block access to Swedish file sharing website [[The Pirate Bay]].<ref>Josh Halliday, [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/30/british-isps-block-pirate-bay British ISPs will block The Pirate Bay...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226070057/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/30/british-isps-block-pirate-bay |date=26 February 2017 }}.</ref> The case was brought after the ISPs refused to block the site voluntarily<ref>BBC, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17894176 The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK ISPs, court rules] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215135804/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17894176 |date=15 February 2014 }}.</ref> and after one ISP was ordered to block a similar site [[Newzbin]]2 in July 2011.<ref>BBC, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14322957 BT ordered to block links to Newzbin 2 website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511060905/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14322957 |date=11 May 2019 }}.</ref>
+Discussions between the [[Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom)|Intellectual Property Office]], the [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]] and search engines [[Google Search|Google]] and [[Bing (search engine)|Bing]] led to the announcement in February 2017 of a voluntary code of practice, under which websites associated with copyright violation would be demoted within search engine rankings. Implementation was expected to begin by the summer of that year.<ref>{{cite news|title=Google and Bing to demote piracy websites|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/20/google-and-bing-to-demote-piracy-websites|date=20 February 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=20 February 2017|archive-date=20 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220094345/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/20/google-and-bing-to-demote-piracy-websites|url-status=live}}</ref>
 {{further|Web blocking in the United Kingdom}}
 ===Opposition===
-There are groups which actively oppose the actions taken by institutions like BPI and the government's copyright policy, most of these groups are opposed to either the criminalisation of file sharers or the privacy infringements from Internet monitoring. The [[Open Rights Group]] and [[Pirate Party UK]] are prominent examples. These groups are opposed to the [[Digital Economy Act 2010#Criticism of copyright infringement provisions|copyright infringement provisions of the Digital Economy Act]]...
+There are groups which actively oppose the actions taken by institutions like BPI and the government's copyright policy, most of these groups are opposed to either the criminalisation of file sharers or the privacy infringements from [[Internet surveillance|Internet monitoring]]. The [[Open Rights Group]] and [[Pirate Party UK]] are prominent examples. These groups are opposed to the [[Digital Economy Act 2010#Criticism of copyright infringement provisions|copyright infringement provisions of the Digital Economy Act]].
-UK ISP [[TalkTalk Group|TalkTalk]] has openly stated that they will refuse to send warning letters to their customers or hand over any of their personal information, even if it became a legal requirement for them to do so.<ref>[http://www.talktalkblog.co.uk/2010/04/08/digital-economy-bill-its-a-wash-up/ TalkTalkBlog - Digital Economy Bill. It's a wash up.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/01/27/talk-talk-boss-says-it-will-fight-government-anti-piracy-plans/|title=Talk Talk boss says it will fight government anti-piracy plans|work=Electricpig}}</ref> TalkTalk has stated that the "government's plans to punish people suspected of illegal downloading are an assault on human rights",<ref>[http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/talktalk-says-piracy-law-infringes-human-rights-231109.html TalkTalk says piracy law infringes human rights].</ref> and pledged to fight government anti-[[Copyright infringement#"Piracy"|piracy]] laws.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/01/27/talk-talk-boss-says-it-will-fight-government-anti-piracy-plans/|title=Talk Talk boss says it will fight government anti-piracy plans|work=Electricpig}}</ref> In 2010 TalkTalk launched a major campaign, Don't Disconnect Us, against government plans to disconnect connections suspected of repeat copyright infringement.<ref>[http://www.dontdisconnect.us/ Don't Disconnect Us].</ref>
+UK ISP [[TalkTalk Group|TalkTalk]] has openly stated that they will refuse to send warning letters to their customers or hand over any of their personal information, even if it became a legal requirement for them to do so.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.talktalkblog.co.uk/2010/04/08/digital-economy-bill-its-a-wash-up/ |title=TalkTalkBlog - Digital Economy Bill. It's a wash up. |access-date=12 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425040950/http://www.talktalkblog.co.uk/2010/04/08/digital-economy-bill-its-a-wash-up/ |archive-date=25 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Electricpig">{{cite web|url=http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/01/27/talk-talk-boss-says-it-will-fight-government-anti-piracy-plans/|title=Talk Talk boss says it will fight government anti-piracy plans|work=Electricpig|access-date=12 March 2011|archive-date=2 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702163556/http://electricpig.co.uk/2010/01/27/talk-talk-boss-says-it-will-fight-government-anti-piracy-plans/|url-status=dead}}</ref> TalkTalk has stated that the "government's plans to punish people suspected of illegal downloading are an assault on human rights",<ref>[http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/talktalk-says-piracy-law-infringes-human-rights-231109.html TalkTalk says piracy law infringes human rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091127104731/http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/talktalk-says-piracy-law-infringes-human-rights-231109.html |date=27 November 2009 }}.</ref> and pledged to fight government anti-[[Copyright infringement#"Piracy"|piracy]] laws.<ref name="Electricpig"/> In 2010 TalkTalk launched a major campaign, Don't Disconnect Us, against government plans to disconnect connections suspected of repeat copyright infringement.<ref>[http://www.dontdisconnect.us/ Don't Disconnect Us] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227012734/http://www.dontdisconnect.us/ |date=27 December 2011 }}.</ref>
-Opposition has also come from English comedian, actor, writer, and director, [[Stephen Fry]], who has defended non-commercial "piracy", supported TalkTalk's Don't Disconnect Us campaign<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsId=3206985|title=Stephen Fry backs TalkTalk's net piracy campaign|author=Carrie-Ann Skinner|work=PC Advisor}}</ref> and admitted to using [[BitTorrent (protocol)|BitTorrent]] to download episodes of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' and ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://torrentfreak.com/stephen-fry-admits-hes-a-bittorrent-pirate-090713/|title=Stephen Fry Admits He's a BitTorrent Pirate - TorrentFreak|work=TorrentFreak}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2009/07/14/stephen_fry_defends_non_commercial_piracy|title=Stephen Fry defends non-commercial piracy|work=AfterDawn}}</ref>
+Opposition has also come from English comedian, actor, writer, and director, [[Stephen Fry]], who has defended non-commercial "piracy", supported TalkTalk's Don't Disconnect Us campaign<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsId=3206985|title=Stephen Fry backs TalkTalk's net piracy campaign|author=Carrie-Ann Skinner|work=PC Advisor}}</ref> and admitted to using [[BitTorrent (protocol)|BitTorrent]] to download episodes of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' and ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://torrentfreak.com/stephen-fry-admits-hes-a-bittorrent-pirate-090713/|title=Stephen Fry Admits He's a BitTorrent Pirate - TorrentFreak|work=TorrentFreak|access-date=12 March 2011|archive-date=17 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717080008/http://torrentfreak.com/stephen-fry-admits-hes-a-bittorrent-pirate-090713/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2009/07/14/stephen_fry_defends_non_commercial_piracy|title=Stephen Fry defends non-commercial piracy|work=AfterDawn|access-date=12 March 2011|archive-date=19 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319180922/http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2009/07/14/stephen_fry_defends_non_commercial_piracy|url-status=live}}</ref>
 ==See also==
@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 {{Reflist |32em}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:File Sharing in the United Kingdom}}
-[[CATEGORY:File sharing by country]]
-[[Category:Peer-to-peer file sharing]]
-[[Category:Law in the United Kingdom]]
 {{File sharing}}
 {{File sharing by country}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:File Sharing in the United Kingdom}}
+[[Category:File sharing by country|United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Peer-to-peer file sharing]]
+[[Category:Law of the United Kingdom]]

v t e Peer-to-peer file sharing by country or region
Countries	Canada Japan Singapore United Kingdom
See also: Legal aspects of file sharing