Needless to say, the UK trade body for the internet service provider sector wasn't impressed by anything Geoff or his colleagues in the movie industry had to say, again arguing that any "graduated response" system is unfeasible, unviable, unworkable, unfair, undesirable, ungroovy and uncool. Or something like that.
The Internet Service Provider Association issued the following statement yesterday: "ISPA continues to dispute calls from some elements of the creative industries for the disconnection of users or technological measures as a method of dealing with potential infringers of copyright online. ISPA members have consistently explained that significant technological advances would be required if these measures are to reach a standard where they would be admissible as evidence in court. ISPs and consumer groups consider disconnection of users to be a disproportionate response, a view that was recently supported by the European Parliament".
The net body also returned to its other main argument in this debate, their claim that the really big issue is the alleged lack of compelling licensed music, movie and video services online. They say that's because record, movie and TV companies are making unreasonable financial demands for the use of their content by web companies, whether that be the ISPs themselves, or the likes of YouTube. Because the content owners are preventing the web firms from offering engaging and affordable legit content services, the ISPs argue, people choose to access the illegal free services instead.
The ISPA added yesterday: "Internet companies remain extremely frustrated by the ongoing difficulties in securing licensing that is needed to offer consumers legal alternatives through new models of online content distribution. It is our view that legislation on enforcement should only be introduced on the condition that the rights holder industry commits to significant licensing reform. ISPA is disappointed that the creative industries continue to advocate legislation on enforcement without considering how the complicated licensing processes that many stakeholders believe are at the root of the problem can be reformed".