Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP | Giving you a lot more than just law... » CView http://www.mablaw.com MAB Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:12:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Virgin controversially trials new software to get info on peer-to-peer file-sharers http://www.mablaw.com/2010/01/virgin-controversially-trials-new-software-to-get-info-on-peer-to-peer-file-sharers/ http://www.mablaw.com/2010/01/virgin-controversially-trials-new-software-to-get-info-on-peer-to-peer-file-sharers/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:34:35 +0000 Mark Weston http://www.mablaw.com/?p=1791 Virgin Media is planning to trial new software called CView which would analyse file-sharing by its customers. Privacy International – a privacy rights watchdog – has taken issue with the Internet service provider’s actions and has asked the European Commission to report on the legality of the proposed software use. Privacy International claims that the trial would breach the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, under which it is a criminal offence to intercept communications without consent unless certain exemptions apply. However, Virgin Media counters that it is not actually identifying individual users. Instead, it is conducting the trial to see how much of the traffic through its service is illegal file-sharing. It wants to find out what it can do to reduce illegal file-sharing and the trail will give it useful information to help to achieve that. Virgin Media has admitted that it would be possible technically to use the deep packet inspection software to identify Internet protocol addresses (from which individual users could be identified) but this was not currently the plan.

The Government is introducing new laws through the Digital Economy Bill, which (if passed) would involve file-sharers being identified, warned and ultimately stopped from having full Internet access. Virgin Media claims that CView will not help with that. It said the software does not actually identify anyone.

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