The Government’s sudden change of course on unlawful P2P filesharing has attracted considerable criticism from a wide range of organisations in recent days. A letter in today’s Times, signed by Open Rights Group, BT, Orange UK, talktalk, Consumer Focus and Which? summarises the position being taken by many ISPs and consumer rights organisations.
Any decision to move to harsh and punitive measures such as disconnection must be genuinely underpinned by rigorous and objective assessment by Ofcom. Consumers must be presumed to be innocent unless proven guilty. We must avoid an extrajudicial “kangaroo court” process where evidence is not tested properly and accused broadband users are denied the right to defend themselves against false accusations. Without these protections innocent customers will suffer. Any penalty must be proportionate. Disconnecting users from the internet would place serious limits on their freedom of expression. Usually, constraints to freedom of expression are imposed only as the result of custodial sentences, or incitement to racial hatred, or libel.
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