Ofcom ‘letter writing’ consultation is out

Ofcom’s consultation document’s are out if you want to take a look.  

Compiled during the discussions Ofcom have had, this is a list of potential problems we see with the process:

Initial Obligations Code (CIRs, notifications)

• the contents of letters;
• the volume of CIRs and letters;
• the connection between CIRs and letters (not clear if a notification is sent for each CIR)
• the extent to which people are dissuaded from running open wifi networks;
• the impacts on community wifi providers;
• misinformation about copyright
• potential market abuse as ISPs use letters to advertise their products as alternatives to infringement
• The standards of evidence required
• The clear applicability of CIRs to future unknown ‘technical measures’ under the Act

Appeals

• The way the Appeals body works.
• The open-ness of this body.
• What grounds they accept as reasonable, how consistent they are

Measurement and reporting

• What Ofcom measure in terms of copyright infringement. The difficulty in establishing relationships between infringement and lost income.

Costs

• Hassle and possibly costs for accused to enter appeal process
• Cost of the process being imposed on ISP customers through the 75/25 ‘cost split’

General

• What Ofcom do to ensure the film and music industries properly license their content
• Whether Ofcom are properly able to act in the interests of competition, given the tension between exclusive copyright licensing and competition
• The most important questions, that would actually resolve the problem, could easily be fudged.

Please let us know your thoughts, here or on our Forum.