One in five in favour of peer-to-peer broadband restrictions

One in five broadband customers think that there should be harsher restrictions imposed on illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) activity – that’s the conclusion of a recent survey conducted by ISPreview.co.uk.

After questioning 472 respondents, ISPreview.co.uk revealed 20.7 per cent of Brits were supportive of the idea of blocking all websites hosting links to illegal downloads or putting a cap on the maximum speed at which P2P services are permitted to run.

Out of those taking part in the survey, 14.8 per cent were in favour of restricting the user’s overall broadband speed as a punishment for persistent illegal downloading whilst 26.9 per cent were supportive of a more aggressive warning letters. 22.4 per cent didn’t have any suggestions for solving the problem.

Just over one month ago in Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report it was revealed there is intention to make it a legal requirement for all UK internet service providers (ISPs) to be more proactive in cautioning customers suspected of illegal downloading. However, how to go about tackling P2P activity is an ongoing issue.

ISPreview.co.uk noted however, despite of supporting punishments involving broadband speed, very few UK consumers wish to see downloaders face more serious consequences. A mere 6.1 per cent were in favour of forcing a broadband connection to be terminated and only 3.6 per cent thought it a positive step to enforce a fine or legal action.

Even if the most suitable punishment is agreed on, the next problem will be to convince all UK internet service providers (ISPs) to act as executioner. Currently, many providers have expressed the option it’s not their role to police the internet. Previously, the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) argued that internet service providers (ISPs) don’t have the power to tackle illegal downloading because they “are no more able to inspect and filter every single packet passing across their network than the Post Office is able to open every envelope.”