Memorandum submitted by the Motion Picture
Association
I am writing to you regarding the Business and
Enterprise Committee's current inquiry into broadband speed and
the Government's target for universal access to broadband at 2MB/s
announced as part of the Digital Britain Report earlier this year.
I understand that during a recent meeting with
NBC Universal, one of our members, they raised the issue of a
connection between broadband speed and illicit peer-to-peer (P2P)
file-sharing and how this might impact upon the outcome of your
inquiry. As the trade association representing the six major producers
and distributors of film and television programmes, we thought
it might be useful to pick up on this issue in a little more detail.
Digital Britain sets out an ambitious
vision for the future of the digital economy in the UK and the
film industry stands ready to play its part in helping Government
realise that vision of a thriving market for digital content.
In our view tackling rampant unlawful activity online is essential
to that vision becoming a reality.
Consumers are now using the internet to download
more films, TV shows and music than ever before. A recent Ofcom
report into UK adults' media literacy found that one in three
UK adults who use the internet now say they are watching online
or downloading TV programmes or films.[123]
However, this increase in traffic on the network
slows down access to the internet for all and a lot of this traffic
comes from illegal peer to peer activity. Illegal traffic uses
up a significant amount of bandwidth—more than half in the
case of some ISPs.[124]
This in turn limits the capacity available to others and makes
the delivery of a universal high-speed service less likely.
In other developed digital markets estimates
of the proportion of capacity taken up by illegal traffic range
between 50 and 75%,[125]
meaning that just 25% of internet capacity is available for use
by the lawful majority. This is one of the reasons why most consumers
do not have access to the level of broadband speed they are paying
for. A study by Ofcom earlier this year found that fewer than
one in 10 (9%) of a sample of 8Mbit/s headline packages received
actual average speeds of over 6Mbit/s and around one in five (19%)
received, on average, less than 2Mbit/s.[126]
It is clear therefore that reducing illegal
P2P file-sharing goes hand-in-hand with improving broadband speeds
for UK consumers. In the current climate, the incentive for ISPs
to invest in developing the network is being undermined by the
fact that, as things stand, the new capacity created will simply
be taken up by more unlawful activity.
The unauthorised distribution of content through
P2P programmes also increases the spread of viruses and can cause
significant damage to home and business networks. Symantec estimate
that 90% of the files shared through P2P applications contain
malicious software (malwares) and in 2008 10% of malware were
propagated via P2P applications.[127]
Further, as outlined by a recent study by McAfee,[128]
the number of new file-sharing sites illegally hosting copyrighted
material has increased by over 300% over the last three months.
In particular, this has occurred since a Swedish judge ordered
ISP Black Internet to cut off bandwidth service to BitTorrent
tracker site The Pirate Bay. McAfee predicts the number of these
malicious sites will increase during the blockbuster film seasons.
Not only will these websites increase traffic on networks and
further facilitate the spread of viruses and malware software,
but McAfee's research demonstrates the current difficulties in
preventing unlawful file-sharing.
Putting appropriate measures in place to reduce
illegal behaviour online means that capacity will be freed up
for legal use, an improved and safer service will be created for
consumers and a business environment which encourages investment
and innovation will be delivered.
This will become increasingly important as ISPs
seek to develop the next generation of "super fast"
broadband networks. We feel that those developing these new networks
should already be considering how their construction can maximise
opportunities for those in the creative industries, particularly
content owners and creators, to promote the delivery of legitimate
content. It is imperative that this new infrastructure does not
become merely a system of delivery for unlawful content, which
will further detract value from ISPs, content creators and rights
holders.
I hope this information is of interest to your
inquiry.
18 November 2009
123 UK Adult's Media Literacy 2009 Ofcom (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/uk_adults_ml/adult_ml.pdf) Back
124
Swedish crackdown on piracy reduces file-sharing The Swedish Wire,
4 August 2009 (http://www.swedishwire.com/general/648-swedish-crackdown-on-piracy-reduces-file-sharing) Back
125
Ibid. Back
126
Fixed-line Broadband Speeds Ofcom (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2009/07/nr_20090728) Back
127
What do P2P Applications do? Symantec 13 October 2009 (http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/what-do-p2p-applications-do-and-how-block-peer-peer-applications-p2p-using-symantec-endpoin) Back
128
McAfee, Threats Report: Third Quarter, 2 November 2009
(http://www.mcafee.com/us/local_content/reports/7315rpt_threat_1009.pdf) Back
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