Just three months before the announcement of a notice-based scheme for movie pirates in the UK, leaked emails have revealed that MPAA got cold feet over the new system.
After years of negotiations, MPAA and the UK government both agreed to the new notice-based system for movie pirates, called the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (VCAP).
The scheme, which MPAA has pushed for in many countries, involved copyright holders monitoring online file-sharing networks for pirates and then sending them warnings via their ISPs.
In leaked emails, MPAA discussed pulling out completely because it didn't know how effective it will be without punishments for people who ignore the warnings. But, MPAA decided to meet with a minister and a policy advisor of the UK government to discuss its concerns.
The officials pointed out that the government had other policies which were showing results, such as blocking pirate sites and going after the sites' finances, however, that did not appease MPAA.
MPAA and the politicians later agreed to delay the scheme due to fears of a public backlash in the upcoming 2015 election for the UK government because of its involvement in VCAP, however, after news of the deal leaked, MPAA and the politicians went back to the original plan.
Despite being publicly and internally supportive, it's clear going by these leaked emails that if the scheme does not produce the results that MPAA is looking for, it will push for changes, including the addition of account suspensions and disconnection for repeat offenders.
Source: TorrentFreak
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