Britain could follow France in cutting Internet access to users who repeatedly download music or films illegally. In France, warning messages are sent to those who frequently download music or films illegally. If the messages are ignored, users can have their accounts suspended or closed altogether.
The U.K. government had given British ISPs a year to come up with a voluntary plan but that time has now expired leading many to conclude that government regulation will need to be issued to address the problem. The impetus from this access comes the the music industry that saw a further 10% decline in sales during 2007.
A report in the Times newspaper suggested that ISPs would be forced to act against users accused of accessing copyrighted material without permission. An alternative system would be based on filtering, which could block illegal files from being downloaded.