Crackdown on Illegal Downloads
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After a report last year claiming HBO’s Game of Thrones was the most pirated show of 2015, the government is considering a new ten-year custodial sentence for online pirates.
As of 2016, illegal downloading isn’t a criminal offence. It is actually covered by civil law, meaning activities that are taking place in a community (in this case, online) can’t be brought to justice through conventional law.
However, after a warning from HBO, the government is seriously considering the new sentence as a way forward to stop illegal downloading. This would mean treating illegal downloading the same as if you were selling contraband, like t-shirts or knock-off trainers.
The Office of Intellectual Property has said it plans to continue with it.
HBO’s warning reads:
“As the owner of the IP address, HBO requests that [ISP] immediately contact the subscriber who was assigned the IP address at the date and time below with the details of this notice, and take the proper steps to prevent further downloading or sharing of unauthorized content and additional infringement notices.”
This warning was sent to the emails of those who used sites like BitTorrent and TorrentFreak, by tracking their IPs to registered emails. But as well as the warning, the company urged users of pirate sites to subscribe to their legal streaming services, saying:
“We also encourage you to inform the subscriber that HBO programming can easily be watched and streamed on many devices legally by adding HBO to the subscriber’s television package.”
According to the government, all of the UK’s combined intellectual property rights are worth £60bn ($86bn).
Piracy has been an issue raised many times over the last few years, but it seems now that HBO has gotten involved, things may start to change.