BT has reportedly threatened to disconnect a customer after it was shown she'd illegally downloaded a Girls Aloud song. Nothing to do with copyright infringement, BT just don't want anything to do with Girls Aloud fans.
No, not really. According to IT website The Register the unnamed girl received an email from BT, who are her internet service provider, telling her she had been spotted illegally acquired a Girls Aloud song via file-sharing programme Ares, and that doing so was in breach of the ISP's Acceptable Use Policy. It added that if she continued to acquire music illegally she may have her internet connection cut off.
The reported email follows those other reports that some internet service providers are starting to accept that they have a role to play in policing illegal file sharing on the net. The music industry has become increasingly vocal in calling on the ISPs to take a more proactive role in combating online piracy, mainly by distributing warning letters to those net users who access music illegally, and ultimately cutting them off if they don't cease and desist.
Some ISPs have been resistant to those calls - most prominently Talk Talk - but with government indicating it may force the ISPs to help if they don't do so voluntarily within the year, other net providers are starting to play ball. Virgin Media has already committed to send out the warning letters to customers that label trade body the BPI reckon are file-sharing, and the industry body has said it is in talks with other ISPs, including BT, about similar measures. The reported email from BT would suggest they have decided to adopt a similar policy to Virgin.
It remains to be seen if those resistant to taking on a piracy police role - in particular Carphone Warehouse's Talk Talk - eventually play ball, or whether they become the ISP of choice for naughty P2P users. If ISPs do start cutting file sharers off (Virgin haven't gone that far, they are just sending out letters warning users of copyright laws - the BT threatening email is so far unconfirmed) then presumably some kind of industry-wide system will be required to stop users simply switching to rival net providers if and when they are cut off by one on copyright grounds.