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BIS confirm 75/25 costs split for UK three-strikes
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 14 September 2010
The government’s Department For Business Innovation & Skills has finally got round to publishing its report on the financing of any three-strikes system for combating file-sharing and, as expected, proposes that rights holders who utilise the system should cover 75% of any costs. The rest will be paid for by the internet service providers whose users are (allegedly) file-sharing.
As previously reported, the 75/25 costs split was proposed when the Digital Economy Act – which lays the groundwork for three-strikes – was working its way through parliament earlier this year, though the BIS has been consulting stakeholders on the costs issue since the Act became law.
The content industries were lobbying for their share to be lower, arguing that it is the ISPs who profit from file-sharing (in that it is a useful tool for selling higher-speed broadband packages, of course ISPs would argue that they lose out from file-sharing too, because file-sharers tend to use more than their fair share of bandwidth). However, it’s been known for some weeks that the BIS was likely to stick with the 75/25 costs share.
Perhaps more interesting, therefore, is the confirmation that those accused of file-sharing through the three-strikes system will not be charged a fee to appeal any claim made against them. There were fears that if file-sharers did have to contribute to costs if they chose to appeal those who will inevitably be falsely accused would be unfairly treated.
Of course, the percentage splits aren’t much help to anyone without an indication of what the actual costs of running three-strikes will be. As previously reported, OfCom are still preparing their latest report that will set out how other aspects of the ‘graduated response’ system for targeting file-sharers will work.
