United Kingdom authorities on Friday said that music labels and movie studios should bear at least 75 percent of the cost for the continued abolition of illegal file-sharing websites on the Internet.
UK Treasury Minister Stephen Timms said that since copyright holders will be the major beneficiaries of the campaign, they should contribute some 75 percent of the expenses used in tracking down illegal file-sharers.
Meanwhile, the remaining 25 percent of the expense should be shouldered by the Internet Service Providers. The total cost of the 10-year campaign was pegged at over £500m.
At the same time, Timms has called on recoding and movie companies to provide cheap and legal alternatives to the online users to help curb the effect of Internet piracy to their business. The official cited that the progress in the fight against the illegal file-sharers has been “much too slow.”
It will be recalled that the music industry pushed for stronger government action against the issue, citing the 12 percent drop in its sales last year. The recording industry has also pushed for the equal split in the cost of the campaign among the copyright holders and ISPs.
The BPI, composed of all the major recording labels in the UK, stressed that a 75:25 split ratio is not fair and is not a proportionate allocation for the people who own the rights.
Based on records, the music industry posted more than 30 percent drop in the sales market since 2004.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said that Internet piracy has been a huge barrier to the market growth, calling for the ISPs to immediately disconnect people who were found violating copyright laws.
The organisation claims piracy is a huge barrier to market growth and has called on ISPs to disconnect persistent offenders.
The UK government is now implementing the three-strike policy which could lead to users’ disconnection if they were labeled as “persistent offenders.” An issue that human-rights activist quickly brushed off.