The U.K. biz may not have been impressed with the lack of a "three-strikes" strategy in the government's Digital Britain report, but ISPs have welcomed the proposals.
In its response to the June 16 report, the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) states that it agrees that it is "preferable that the market is left to develop new approaches to content distribution but that the creative industries themselves need to act and provide attractive content packages for online distribution."
The government said that technical measures could be introduced if educational warning letters do not have a significant impact on reducing illegal file-sharing after a year, with a 70% reduction targeted.
In its statement, the trade body added: "ISPA is pleased that the government has ruled out legislating to force Internet companies to disconnect persistent users of illicit P2P file sharing; a response that ISPA believes would be a disproportionate sanction against users. This is a view that is also held by consumer groups in the U.K. and further endorsed by the European Parliament and a judgement in the [Constitutional Council] in France."
ISPA also welcomed the framework whereby action can be taken against repeat infringers through existing legal channels.
"I am pleased that the government has taken the position advocated by ISPA that unlawful online copyright infringement should be reduced through offering viable legal alternatives," said secretary-general Nicholas Lansman in a statement. "ISPA will assess in more detail the obligations on ISPs being proposed, but supports the use of existing legal channels to bring targeted civil action against repeat infringers. ISPA doubts the effectiveness of technical sanctions and would urge that the initial proposals be given every chance to succeed before such sanctions are considered."
ISPA will respond in full to the consultation, according to the statement.
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