Recent weeks have seen various parties, including the BPI in the UK and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, suggest that Internet Service Providers should act when their customers repeatedly infringe copyright, eventually cutting the connections of those who refuse to stop.

However, those plans came up against stiff opposition from the European Parliament, which yesterday signalled its opposition to such drastic action as part of a vote on an amendment to the Bono Report on the Cultural Industries.

The vote indicates ...