Getting the ISPs onside is a massive step forward.

The battle against illegal filesharing looks a great deal less daunting thanks to the BPI's negotiations

Tucked inside the Government's consultation on how to deal with illegal filesharing is an "annex" detailing the memo of understanding between the BPI and Internet Service Providers.

It's only two pages long, but its importance in laying the foundations for the music industry to operate successfully and profitably in the digital age cannot be overstated.

Bringing ISPs into the legit world is the number one issue for the UK industry right now. Nothing else can have such a massive and long-term impact on the music business than being able to monetise the majority of music on the internet.

This Memorandum of Understanding - and the consultation document alongside it - moves us closer to that goal and the BPI and its chief executive Geoff Taylor, who led the negotiations with the ISPs and various Government departments and ministers, should be applauded.

It has been a difficult process. In some cases the ISPs have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the table. There have been threats. There has been coercion. There has been arm-twisting, horse trading and compromises. But the deal is now there. And while it might not be exactly what the music industry wanted - it would have preferred tough legislation already - it is certainly not what the ISPs want.

A year ago if someone had suggested that Carphone Warehouse boss Charles Dunstone would be sending warning letters to Talk Talk customers who are filesharing they would have been laughed out of court. But that is what he and, importantly, the UK's other five largest ISPs are going to do.