BT boss says fine filesharing customers, don't cut them off

Posted on 10 Mar 2010 at 12:11

Ian Livingstone, the CEO of BT, has publically criticised the government's controversial 'three-strikes' plan to cut off persistent illegal file sharers, saying that they should be fined instead.

He and other execs from internet firms, including Google, Yahoo! and Facebook, have written a public letter to the Financial Times urging the government to change the Digital Economy Bill currently making its way through parliament.

The main thrust of the argument against the bill is that cutting off internet access for file sharers is an unfair form of punishment that could end up penalising entire families. Instead, Livingstone argued that a fine would be a better way to handle the crime. As well as being a bigger deterrent, money collected could be used to pay the creative industries, such as music producers and film studios, which are affected by file sharing.

The bill has its third and final reading in the House of Lords next week. We totally agree with Livingstone, and government should consider other options before deciding to bow down to the music industry, which has been a heavy proponent of the new bill.

Author: David Ludlow

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