In the same way that adult content can be screened, an Internet service provider is letting users block Bit Torrent on their computers.
The idea is to prevent teens from pirating mass quantities of movies, music and games, thus reducing the risk of a lawsuit from Big Content. Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Talktalk operator Carphone Warehouse, told the Telegraph that these measures will be introduced in the form of parental controls.
No software will be required to block BitTorrent. Instead, the ISP will merely block Web sites known to offer illegal files through BitTorrent, such as The Pirate Bay.
As TorrentFreak points out, this will aide the entertainment industry if the British government agrees on a plan to disconnect illegal file sharers. Presented with a letter from, say, the British Phonographic Industry, unsuspecting parents could shut down their children's illegal activities with minimal effort.
It's not clear yet whether a "three-strikes" rule will take effect in England. Recently, a group of musicians under the Featured Artists Coalition said they'd support bandwidth restrictions for illegal file sharers, as long as e-mail and Web access remained functional. A handful of major ISPs, including TalkTalk, have opposed a flat-out disconnection of pirates due to the costs involved.
Indeed, I'd say Talktalk is looking to offer up some alternative that won't require active monitoring of user activity. Blacklisting Web sites should be a lot simpler, and leaving users in control would keep net neutrality advocates at bay.
Personally, I'd rather see parents explain the nature of, and problems with piracy to their children -- or at least show them Don't Copy That Floppy -- instead of merely blocking part of their Internet access. I'd also like to see the entertainment industry refrain from threatening families because of their children's poor decisions. But I'm a realist, so parental controls will have to do.
