That Feargal Sharkey fella, this time in his guise as CEO of music publishing trade body British Music Rights, has taken to the stage at the annual awards bash of the Internet Service Providers Association and called on those present to get "back on track" with their talks with the music business regarding the battle against illegal file sharing. He was quite brave to do so, given that another music industry trade body, the BPI, was up for the Villain Of The Year prize at the awards show because of its "heavy handed approach" in the whole P2P domain.
As much previously reported, the record labels want internet service providers to take on a more proactive role in policing the illegal distribution of unlicensed content on the internet, and for ISPs to monitor content distribution, to issue warnings to their customers who upload or download unlicensed music, and to ultimately cut off those customers who do not heed those warnings. While such activity may not be hugely welcomed by those ISP customers who enjoy accessing free but illegal content sources, such monitoring and warnings are surely better, the record labels argue, than music owners taking thousands of individual file-sharers to court, as has happened elsewhere.
The record labels aren't the only part of the music business calling on the ISPs to act - U2 manager Paul McGuinness made similar demands of the net firms at music industry convention Midem back in January. And the whole thing has been getting political support, with government ministers saying that if no voluntary agreement between the music business and ISPs can be reached regarding policing P2P by the start of next year, then they'll introduce new laws forcing the internet firms to act.
Despite all this, the internet service providers remain resistant to taking on the role proposed by the record labels. They most often cite customer privacy issues, though the cost of running such a monitoring system and the tricky PR involved in cutting off customers who are paying their bills on time no doubt also play a role. Tech chiefs at the ISPs may also doubt the reliability of the technology available to do this kind of monitoring - technology which serial file-sharers will no doubt learn to side-step, while, given that all technology is prone to hiccups, legit customers will probably find their internet access being hindered.
With neither side in this argument all that keen on budging, and given those commitments from the government, some in the music industry have resolved themselves to holding on for a year and then waiting for new laws to force the ISPs to act. Some in the internet firms, meanwhile, prefer the idea of lobbying politicians to write lukewarm legislation that obligates them to little rather than negotiating with the record companies.
But talks do continue, and Sharkey reckons that both sides should make it their business to get a voluntary agreement up and running asap, arguing that relying on government legislation is in no one's interest. Suggesting to the audience of ISP execs that there was definitely room for negotiation on this issue, Billboard report the former Undertones man thus: "Surely the bright and brilliant minds in this room can help figure this out. Because at the moment, the options on the table are as limited as they are unpalatable. Personally, and the vast majority of the music industry is behind me here, I see no value in any policy that disconnects broadband subscribers from the internet. If you do that, how can they buy anything? As a former regulator of the radio industry, I can tell you from experience, that the most unpalatable choice of all will be legislation".
He continued: "Together we have the power to truly unlock the potential of digital music and we have a real window of opportunity to do it. I come here tonight with a challenge, a challenge for those that are brave of heart, those of great minds, those who are courageous, those who are bold, those who are decisive. Move with the music industry, move from the opinions of the past; move to a future where music can - and I know will - unlock an incredible value to your business".
Whether enough people in the music industry and ISP sector share Sharkey's passion for a voluntary agreement to make it happen remains to be seen. If it's any help, the ISPA judges decided the tax man was a bigger villain than the BPI giving the Villain Of The Year prize to the Inland Revenue, which could be interpreted as a suggestion that the ISPs would actually rather spend time with record label types than government officials.