Gov. to pirates: we'll slow you down, not cut you off
"Technical solutions" are one of the primary solutions aimed at tackling the problems with online pirated software, by targeting the pirates directly. Whilst thoughts are still vague, with bureaucrats and politicians still talking in metaphors, a full report will be delivered on the 16th June.
As the BBC report, an interim report brought out on 29th January, the "Digital Britain" report, sets out the pathway for every home in the UK to have at least 2MB broadband by 2012. This full report is expected to set out the way forward to expand economic growth and promoting education using technology as a key weapon for the next generation.
Whilst some countries have opted to take the three strike approach, which gives suspected pirate users three chances to change their ways after being detected, which then resorts to their web access being restricted, others believe broadband and Internet access is as necessary as gas, electricity or water supplies.
One of the only viable alternatives is having a List 99 for pirate users, in some way. Replacing names of those who are barred from working with children with those who have committed pirating offences, this would trickle down the system and put forward restrictions on the physical phone lines. With this,
Blocking certain ports and limiting available speeds on the phone line from the ISP itself is a far more effective way of damage limitation. Users in this respect may well pay anything from $20-$100 a month for an expected broadband speed, but speeds may be throttled at near dial-up speeds to prevent further abuse.
Who's Watching You, a BBC series covering the surveillance state we live in, mentioned how some organisations hire electronic mercenaries to entrap those who share files over the BitTorrent network. However, as far as I am aware, you can get in a hell of a lot more trouble from sharing files than downloading files using the peer-to-peer network. Just by turning off any uploads, in theory, would prevent you being flagged up by these companies.
But would this work? Would the threat of mandatory dial-up speeds deter you from downloading or sharing? Leave a comment.