Survey Says Three Strikes Law Won’t Deter Piracy

A survey by British ISP BE Broadband shows that if the three strikes proposal in the UK Digital Economy Act becomes law, it won’t significantly deter behaviour. Only 5% of those surveyed said they would reduce or stop using filesharing software. 47% said they would simply take steps to conceal their IP address. 

This article at TorrentFreak.com talks about some of the concerns about three strikes laws, such as putting innocent users at risk, and a UN report that says such laws breach human rights.

Three-strikes laws are a controversial proposal to address download infringement concerns of creators and publishers of movies and music.

The concept is that if someone alleges an internet user is downloading copyrighted material, they can advise their ISP. The ISP then tells the customer to cease this illegal activity. If this happens three times, the ISP must turn off the customer’s internet access.

My view, and that of many others, is that such laws are draconian and should not exist. This link is to posts I have written about this topic before including links to others with similar thoughts, including a short video interview with author Cory Doctorow.