Dunstone to fight piracy laws in court
CARPHONE Warehouse chief executive Charles Dunstone said last night that he is prepared to take the government to court if it passes a rule forcing internet service providers (ISPs) to cut off suspected file-sharers.
Dunstone said that Carphone-owned ISP provider TalkTalk – which supplies 4.25m households – would refuse to slow down or cut off customers suspected of illegally downloading music or films, unless ordered to do so by a judge.
“In the event that we are instructed to impose extra judicial technical measures we will refuse to do so and challenge the instruction in the courts,” he said.
Dunstone added that Lord Mandelson’s proposals to disconnect repeat offenders would lead to “more wi-fi and PC hijacking and expose more innocent people to being penalised wrongfully”.
He agreed that illegal file sharing – which the music industry says costs it £200m each year – is an issue, but warned against Mandelson’s “guilty until proven innocent” approach.
The comments came on the last day of the consultation period on the government’s plans to reduce file sharing. In the Digital Britain report in June, Lord Carter suggested reducing the speed of repeat offenders. But Mandelson has since proposed temporary disconnection.
BT has also joined the backlash against the plans, saying that forcing ISPs to enforce the rules would result in rising costs and a poorer experience for users.
Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw has said that the plans will be outlines in the Queen’s speech in November.