ISPs come to the table to negotiate piracy strategy.

BPI and web companies motivated to agree on effective code of practice

The Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) consultation to address unlawful filesharing (see page one story) demonstrates what the Government has been saying all along: that it prefers a voluntary agreement between ISPs and the music industry.

With the memorandum of understanding (MoU), which ensures filesharing is tackled by a combination of education, new commercial models and sanctions, it now has that.

The 66-page document - Consultation On Legislative Options To Address Illicit P2P Filesharing, to give it its full name - outlines that rights holders and ISPs should work together over the coming months to produce a code of practice. This will cover everything from standards of evidence and actions against repeat infringers to routes of appeal for consumers.

It is envisaged that Ofcom, whose chief executive Ed Richards recently offered to help police internet piracy, will have a role in approving the codes of practice between the two industries and also give the code legislative backing.

Ofcom will also invite ISPs and rights holders to join a group to explore how repeat infringers can be dealt with. These will include technical measures such as traffic management or filtering and marking of legitimate content.

The group is expected to report within four months, when the Government and Ofcom will consider the joint working group's findings.