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Ed Vaizey, UK Culture Minister: US Internet Service Providers "rumored" to introduce piracy related site blocking - UK should follow in their footsteps.
Speaking at the Intellect Consumer Electronics conference in London, Vaizey said that US ISP's were "rumored" to be introducing a voluntary filter that would block piracy related websites. No doubt Bittorrent sites like The Pirate Bay are top of the list. He said such a filter would be a "game changer" and that the UK should consider the same approach.
"A voluntary agreement may come out of the US and if that does happen it could be a game-changer," he said
"If people are streaming live football without permission we should look at ways we can stop them.... People have the right to earn money from content they create."
Taking a punch a ISP's he said he found their attitude towards site blocking "odd".
Vaizey however remained tight lipped following a meeting last week where UK ISPs met with content providers to discuss blocking access to some websites. The meeting outraged many consumer groups including the Online Rights Group (ORG) who had their request to attend the meeting turned down. Jim Killock of ORG spoke out saying "It is unacceptable for trade groups and the government to conduct policy in this way. Censorship proposals must be discussed in public."
Also speaking at the conference was the chief executive of Virgin Media, Neil Berkett. Virgin Media are amongst the biggest broadband providers in the UK. He stated that there is currently no agreement between ISPs and Content Providers.
"We still have a way to go to create an environment where the two sides see eye-to-eye," he said.
Speaking on a way forward he said "What is needed is models that encourage people to change their behaviour, subscriptions that are cheap enough so that people think 'I'm better off getting a full array of quality music'"
To date the US has not confirmed the legitimacy of Ed Vaizey's claims.
Last week the MPA applied for an injunction that would force UK broadband provider BT (British Telecom) to block access to NZB indexing site Newzbin.
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