Article Summary: 'Music labels want ISPs to pay extra for illegal filesharers' By Bobbie Johnson

The key points of this article (published on Thursday 13th July 2006, Media Guardian) are:

• Britain's independent music labels say they want internet service providers to pay for the illegal filesharing that happens on their networks.
• The announcement, made by a broad alliance of indie music organisations, comes after recent attempts to pressurise internet companies over the actions of their users.
• The group said ISPs and other companies act as "intermediaries" in the process of filesharing, but have gained business value from promoting music services in the knowledge that many customers would download illegally.
• Internet companies already pay their full dues to artists and labels via the legal services they run.
• Could also impact on mobile phone companies and communication technologies like Bluetooth, which can be used to send music tracks from one handset to another.
• Internet Service providers said they should not be punished for the actions of users who are not under their control.
• ISPs bear no liability for illegal filesharing as the content is not hosted on their servers. Although such files may be transmitted across an ISP's network, they are mere conduits of information.
• Earlier this week the British Phonographic Industry lobbied two internet providers to shut down the accounts of customers it said were among the country's biggest filesharers. One of the ISPs in question, Tiscali, said it had not been presented with enough evidence.