Virgin Media to test filesharing monitoring

Friday November 27, 2009

The CView system will be implemented by Data processing firm Detica.

Virgin has stated that it will monitor around 40% of its broadband users but those being monitored will not be informed that they are part of the test base. This has been met with opposition from consumer bodies.

The technology will allow Virgin to identify P2P packets and explore inside them to determine what content is licensed and what is not.

It is the first ISP to implement such measures. Other ISPs, most notably TalkTalk, have been vociferous in their opposition to such systems and disconnections.

Under the recently-published Digital Britain report, theGgovernment gave ISPs a year to reduce filesharing traffic on their networks by 70%.

This was followed by the outlining of the Digital Economy Bill which could see a ‘three strikes’ disconnection and throttling policy imposed for persistent copyright infringers.

Earlier this year, Virgin Media announced plans to develop an unlimited music download service in conjunction with Universal Music. No launch date has been confirmed yet.