Copyright Infringers to be Blacklisted
June 2nd, 2010 by adminAccording to a draft Initial Obligations Code published on Friday by Ofcom, small-fry Internet Service Providers (ISPs) shall be exempt from being blacklisted under the Digital Economy Act.
Small ISPs include cafés, hotels and other Wi-Fi service providers. Ofcom has stated that its draft Code is not to include small ISPs for now, with the view to change this in the near future.
Ofcom, the communications controller, suggested that its draft Code shall apply to only those ISPs with 400,000 subscribers or more.
The purpose of the Digital Economy Act is to impose obligations on Internet Service Providers where copyright infringers have used their network to commit the infringement. The Act states that ISPs must inform all of their subscribers should the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with them be flagged by copyright owners as being used for copyright infringement purposes.
The purpose of the Initial Obligations Code is to simply explain the in place for copyright owners to inform ISPs of contended copyright infringements.
Mobile networks shall not be covered by the Code, mainly because they are not conducive co copyright infringement, due to their lack of storage capacity and service speed in comparison with large ISPs.
Ofcom recorded that more the 95% of alleged copyright infringement occurs on fixed networks. If, after some investigation from Ofcom, mobile networks and Wi-Fi networks from small ISPs are found to be sustaining copyright infringement, Ofcom shall compel such ISPs to be bound by the Code as though they were a large ISP.
The Initial Obligations Code sets down the way in which a copyright infringement shall be dealt with. The Code states who may allege copyright infringement by completing a Copyright Infringement Report (CIR) which shall require an explanation of the work copied and the IP address associated with the alleged infringement. A CIR of more than 12 months old shall naturally expire after this time if it is not filed on the Copyright Infringement List.
The Government has stated that the Digital Economy Act’s accompanying notes shall, hopefully, assist in the reduction of online copyright infringement.
