Local ADSL users warned about BitTorrent usage
A few local ADSL users were surprised recently when they received a warning from their ISP about alleged illegal download activity. According to one Web Africa subscriber he was threatened with being blacklisted unless he refrains from using BitTorrent.
“IS (Internet Solutions) has informed us that you are downloading illegal software. Please note that Illegal software will not be tolerated on the IS network. If you could please refrain from using BitTorrent again. Reason being that IS has your IP address and they will block you as well as black list you,” an email to the ADSL subscriber read.
Speculation is that this warning from IS is merely correspondence passed on from international companies. One IS subscriber said that the ISP had issued many of these warnings over the last few years, but added that the company does not carry out any of the threats contained in the emails. “If I remember correctly IS is just sending on the threat from Sony Entertainment. I have always blissfully ignored them. They stop service, I stop payment. They get [nothing] from Sony. Do the math.”
A few broadband users suggested the use of encryption to make it more difficult for companies to monitor file downloads. “I would suggest you always use encryption and make sure you use PeerGuardian which will block any connections from dodgy institutions trying to bust downloaders: http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/,” advised one ADSL user.
Web Africa not a police force for the media industry
Web Africa CEO Matthew Tagg said that while illegal use of its network is not acceptable, practically speaking the enforcement is largely determined by their upstream suppliers like IS. “The reseller model currently gives us little room for maneuverability,” said Tagg.
As for the termination of a subscriber’s account, Tagg said that Web Africa will require a court order for this action: “Web Africa is not a voluntary police force for the media industry,” Tagg pointed out.
Tagg further said that he sees BitTorrent as just another technology, and that Web Africa are agnostic on the nature of the content and do not actively monitor their subscribers’ online usage. “Again it must be stipulated when it comes to legal matters, we take a reactionary stance as and when necessitated by the authorities and not a proactive enforcement policy,” said Tagg.
“With regards to filtering however, going forward we may have optional add-on features to products that may filter content based on the needs of some customers. Furthermore technically this happens at some level anyway on a global level (DDOS attacks, viruses, etc) as its of benefit to nearly all subscribers.”
Tagg further hinted that consumers may see a few changes from Web Africa in future: “Our whole value offering will be changing very shortly so at this stage I cannot comment going forward on the policies regarding our new network.”
Internet Solutions was asked for feedback regarding the correspondence, but did not provide feedback by the time of publication.
ADSL and Bittorrent – give your views
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