"Technical Solutions" For UK File Sharers

Those indulging in illegal file-sharing in the UK won't face a three-strikes-and-out penalty, but rather a more nebulous "technical solution."

Giving the keynote speech at a music industry conference, British culture secretary Andy Burnham has largely ruled out the so-called three-strikes-and-out penalty for persistent illegal file sharers in the UK.

With broadband access now seen as a valuable utility, that wouldn’t be the government’s “preferred option,” he said, but instead promised that the finial Digital Britain report would suggest unnamed “technical solutions,” which would probably mean slowing the connections of persistent offenders.

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport told the BBC:

"The Digital Britain report coming out soon will build on last year’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between content holders and ISPs to tackle illegal file sharing."

"It is likely to include an obligation on ISPs to send out letters to people who are infringing copyright."

"What Mr. Burnham also said was there was the likelihood that the MoU would be backed up by new powers for Ofcom to impose ‘technical solutions’ for repeat offenders if that process of sending out letters was not effective enough."