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An addendum to the Digital Economy Act, whereby internet providers are charged for the amount of pirated material they allow to pass through their networks, is to be put forward at a Westminster conference today, the http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2876e320-8ec0-11df-8a67-00144feab49a.html" target="_blank">FT reports.
Will Page, chief economist at the Performing Right Society for Music, will argue a 'piracy fee' would better align the financial interests of internet service providers with rights holders than the act alone, which was passed during the wash up shortly before the general election.
"There is a big need for incentives to be introduced to this debate," Page told the FT. "The Digital Economy Act states that this problem has to be measured. Measurable problems can be priced."
Ofcom is required to monitor piracy levels under the terms of the act. PRS suggests tools that can identify tracks or other media passing over the internet based on fingerprinting technology, could be used to measure illegitimate file-sharing traffic on each ISP.
The levy – which could be paid either to the state or directly to rights holders – would rise and fall in proportion to piracy levels.
“What I want is an endgame where there is no compensation because there is no [piracy],” Page said.
The act is unpopular with a number of parties, including providers BT and TalkTalk, which sought last week to challenge the legality of the government’s existing plans. Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg's 'Your Freedom' initiative - in which members of the public are encouraged to suggest laws for the new government to consider repealing - has been deluged with calls to have the Digital Economy Act scrapped.
"It’s a challenging enough prospect to get the ISPs to accept their responsibilities under the Digital Economy Act," one music industry adviser told the paper. “It is difficult to see how the ISPs would agree to it under anything other than legal duress, given that we now have measures in place to deal with illegal file sharing.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was reported as saying: "I understand this would require fresh legislation, which we don’t have any plans for at this time."