BBC: ISPs Should Assume Heavy VPN Users are Pirates

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

BBC: ISPs Should Assume Heavy VPN Users are Pirates

 

In a submission to the Australian Government on the issue of online piracy, the BBC Worldwide indicates that ISPs should be obliged to monitor their customers' activities. Service providers should become suspicious that customers could be pirating if they use VPN-style services and consume a lot of bandwidth, the BBC says.

 

After cutting its teeth as a domestic broadcaster, the BBC is spreading its products all around the globe. Shows like Top Gear have done extremely well overseas and the trend of exploiting other shows in multiple territories is set to continue.

 

As a result the BBC is now getting involved in the copyright debates of other countries, notably Australia, where it operates four subscription channels. Following submissions from Hollywood interests and local ISPs, BBC Worldwide has now presented its own to the Federal Government. Its text shows that the corporation wants new anti-piracy measures to go further than ever before.

 

The BBC begins by indicating a preference for a co-operative scheme, one in which content owners and ISPs share responsibility to ?reduce and eliminate? online copyright infringement. Educating consumers on both the impact of piracy and where content can be obtained legally online would be supported by improved availability of official offerings.

 

After providing general piracy statistics, the BBC turn to the recent leaking of the new series of Doctor Who to file-sharing networks which acted ?as a spoiler? to the official global TV premiere.

 

?Despite the BBC dedicating considerable resources to taking down and blocking access to these Doctor Who materials, there were almost 13,000 download attempts of these materials from Australian IP addresses in the period between their unauthorized access and the expiration of the usual catch-up windows,? the BBC write.

 

So what can be done?

 

In common with all rightsholder submissions so far, the BBC wants to put pressure on ISPs to deal with their errant subscribers via a graduated response scheme of educational messages backed up by punitive measures for the most persistent of infringers.

 

?ISPs should warn any alleged copyright infringers through a graduated notification system that what they are doing is illegal and, at the same time, educate them about the law, the importance of copyright to funding content and services they enjoy and where they can access the material they want legally. However. if the consumers do not abide by the notifications then more serious action may need to be taken,? the BBC note.

 

Those sanctions could lead to a throttling of a users? Internet connection but should not normally lead to a complete disconnection. However, the BBC doesn?t rule that out, adding that such measures could be employed ?in the most serious and egregious circumstances, as is the case in the United States.?

 

While little in the foregoing presents much of a surprise, the BBC goes further than any other rightsholder submission thus far in suggesting that ISPs should not only forward notices, but also spy on their customers? Internet usage habits.

 

VPNs are pirate tools

 

?Since the evolution of peer-to-peer software protocols to incorporate decentralized architectures, which has allowed users to download content from numerous host computers, the detection and prosecution of copyright violations has become a complex task. This situation is further amplified by the adoption of virtual private networks (VPNs) and proxy servers by some users, allowing them to circumvent geo-blocking technologies and further evade detection,? the BBC explain.

?It is reasonable for ISPs to be placed under an obligation to identify user behavior that is ?suspicious? and indicative of a user engaging in conduct that infringes copyright. Such behavior may include the illegitimate use by Internet users of IP obfuscation tools in combination with high download volumes.?

 

While the BBC goes on to state that ?false positives? would need to be avoided in order to ?safeguard the fundamental rights of consumers?, none of this will sit well with Internet service providers or the public. Throwing around accusations of illegal activity based on the existence of an encrypted tunnel and high bandwidth consumption is several steps beyond anything suggested before.

 

Site blocking

 

The BBC says it supports the blocking of overseas infringing sites at the ISP level after obtaining a court injunction. Of interest is a proposal to use a system which allows for injunctions to be modified after being issued in order to deal with sites finding ways to circumvent bans.

 

?It is important to have the ability to get existing injunctions varied by the court when defendants reappear in different guises, a useful tool in the United Kingdom,? the BBC writes.

 

Who foots the bill?

 

Who pays for all of the above has been the major sticking point in all Australian negotiations thus far. The ISPs largely believe they shouldn?t have to pay for anything, but most rightsholders ? the BBC included ? think that the costs need to be shared.

 

?In light of the fact that a large inducement for internet users to become customers of ISPs is to gain access to content (whether legally or illegally), it is paramount that ISPs are required to take an active role in preventing and fighting online copyright infringement by establishing and contributing meaningfully to the cost of administering some form of graduated response scheme,? the BBC concludes.

 

Source: TorrentFreak

[+John Teacake MVC]

Well they better revoke all their Journalists VPN's to the office in war zones/3rd world countrys/dictatorships then and see how they get on. 

[Brian M. Veteran]

This is what I hate about the fight against piracy. The media seems to criminalise the technology that people use to pirate, as opposed to the actual act of piracy. IMO it's akin to saying "Well, you can smuggle cigarettes on the train from France to England, therefore anyone using the Eurostar must be smuggling cigarettes and we must ban the Eurostar".

 

I've just looked over my log, and I put approximately 10GB a day through my VPN server (my server is at home). That's perfectly legitimate usage. I'd be pretty pee'd off if they accused me of pirating simply because a lot of traffic goes through a VPN connection on my network.

 

Plus, I think the percentage of people who pirate using VPNs are incredibly small. I would imagine that the vast majority of pirates are casual users, who wouldn't know what a VPN is, let alone be able to use one to tunnel illegal material.

[Vandalsquad]

How are they going to prove a VPN is used for anything? Are they going to raid homes and limit internet now just because you're a heavy user even though you could just be using services like netflix through a VPN? What do they hope to archive with this?

[IceBreakerG]

I guess they didn't think about the fact that the only way into most work place networks from outside of the company is through VPN (for those that either work from home or work remotely).  My company is pretty small (< 100 people) and probably half of the employees are sales people that work in other states.  The only way they can access anything on the network that's not accessible through the website is through a VPN connection, but I guess they're dirty, no-good pirates too, what, with getting work done and what not.

[WildWayz]

I guess they didn't think about the fact that the only way into most work place networks from outside of the company is through VPN (for those that either work from home or work remotely).  My company is pretty small (< 100 people) and probably half of the employees are sales people that work in other states.  The only way they can access anything on the network that's not accessible through the website is through a VPN connection, but I guess they're dirty, no-good pirates too, what, with getting work done and what not.

 

There's a massive difference between the bandwidth normal work VPN consumes and that of a VPN being used to mask downloading of pirate material.

 

However, I would love to see them PROVE the intentions were for piracy... as assumption is the mother of all f**kups.

[Lamp Post]

There's a massive difference between the bandwidth normal work VPN consumes and that of a VPN being used to mask downloading of pirate material.

 

However, I would love to see them PROVE the intentions were for piracy... as assumption is the mother of all f**kups.

Depends on the work. If I were to download several projects from our TFS/Git/SVN/whatever server, I am sure that would amount to some bandwidth.

[Praetor]

There's a massive difference between the bandwidth normal work VPN consumes and that of a VPN being used to mask downloading of pirate material.

 

However, I would love to see them PROVE the intentions were for piracy... as assumption is the mother of all f**kups.

 

not too dificult, just connect to a workplace with a very fast and large bandwith to work on CAD files that are in several GBs in size. It's not very pratical, but some companies do work that way when out of office.

[Intersect]

When I am working from home i need to connect to the workplace VPN, so im a potential pirate then?

thanks bbc,  just becasue you see a lot of traffic to your Iplayer service that allows any one from out side of the uk to view shows that is not being supported for by licence payers, you dont have to tarnish the rest of us as pirates.

 

scrap the licence fee as it does not offer any added value for us paying brits. there is plenty of brand placement in your shows as it is.

[WildWayz]

not too dificult, just connect to a workplace with a very fast and large bandwith to work on CAD files that are in several GBs in size. It's not very pratical, but some companies do work that way when out of office.

 

I very much doubt that is the case. It wouldn't be at all efficient to work like that especially as most home lines are not fibre. Besides, most CAD files are made up of small files - even complex ones such as those used to build cars aren't that big. 

 

Then again, all the torrent traffic is people downloading linux distros. ;)

Piracy is piracy and it is easily identifiable - just impossible to prove - and THAT is the problem. BBC's tar and feather approach won't ever work as working on assumptions would NEVER fly in court. It's like saying "The license payer is paying for the BBC officials to molest children" - when in fact, only a small amount do. Bet they don't like that headline ;)

[+Red King Subscriber²]

Baawww we want more money so we are trying to cripple ISPs and privacy to a further degree ~ BBC

[Praetor]

I very much doubt that is the case. It wouldn't be at all efficient to work like that especially as most home lines are not fibre. Besides, most CAD files are made up of small files - even complex ones such as those used to build cars aren't that big. 

 

Then again, all the torrent traffic is people downloading linux distros. ;)

Piracy is piracy and it is easily identifiable - just impossible to prove - and THAT is the problem. BBC's tar and feather approach won't ever work as working on assumptions would NEVER fly in court. It's like saying "The license payer is paying for the BBC officials to molest children" - when in fact, only a small amount do. Bet they don't like that headline ;)

 

well, in my country Fiber to Home is quite cheap so this is a possibilty to work @ home, as long the upload at the workplace is fast :)

(also the problem is not the CAD files but the textures; some projects are 10GB+ - then again this was just an example of how dumb is that request by the BBC).

 

and yeah, this is BBC trying to avoid displaying contents blocked for other countries.

[Argi]

Or you can offer your content at a reasonable price without the 2x Australian tax.  You know...

[Bamsebjørn]

Criminals use guns. So, I can assume that all people carrying guns are criminals?

[LaP]

BBC: ISPs Should Assume Heavy VPN Users are Pirates

 

 

Who pays for all of the above

As usual the end users of course. Welcome to the 150$ (60GB capped/8mbps limited) internet connection where trying to watch a trailer not avalaible in your country makes you a pirate.

I tell you if they keep going at it one day people will revolt.

[LaP]

This is what I hate about the fight against piracy. The media seems to criminalise the technology that people use to pirate, as opposed to the actual act of piracy.

This + 1000.

[neufuse Veteran]

Oh great! So lets assume that our VPN tunnel to our off site location that we use all day for real time off site backup and transfer terabytes per day means we are pirates now! yay!

[+Red King Subscriber²]

So how does this actually work? All the DMCA notices go to the VPN provider?

[Lachlan]

Meh.. its like assuming that people that travel across the border everyday are smuggling drugs.. you screen them more then others.. most border security agents already do this.

[123456789A]

They should just increase the penalties for piracy. Execute a few and set an example.

[Praetor]

They should just increase the penalties for piracy. Execute a few and set an example.

 

you are going all ISIS, aren't you?

[123456789A]

you are going all ISIS, aren't you?

 

ISIS should be executed.

[Praetor]

ISIS should be executed.

 

because of piracy?

[Bamsebjørn]

Enron, I like the way you think... I just hope it's sarcasm.  :D

[IsItPluggedIn]

If they made their content available to people who dont have Foxtel, then less people would pirate.

 

If I want to watch Doctor Who for example I have to pay the $80 a month just for that and get locked into a contract.