An anti-piracy organization based in the United Kingdom issued a press release stating online copyright infringement and theft must carry the same penalties as physical theft.
The Federation Against Software Theft wants members of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to modify current rules so that commercial copyright infringement would be punishable by up to ten years in prison, which would "bring parity with commercial dealing in pirated works."
"In reality all we have been presented with are three options -- make no change, in other words do nothing; introduce a statutory maximum fine of £50,000 for all copyright offences or option three, a maximum fine of £50,000 for all IP offences," said FAST CEO John Lovelock.
One of Lovelock's main roles as CEO of FAST is to help lobby the U.K. government to help reform copyright legislation, educate the public about copyright issues, and punish copyright infringers and pirates.
The IPO is now facing the task of modifying the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988, with thanks to the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property. The review concluded the intellectual property system in the U.K. is strong, but has some flaws that could be fixed in the future.
Strengthening enforcement, educating the public to not pirate music, and how to better improve future copyright legislation are a few of the topics covered by the Gowers review.
"The intention and impact of physical and online infringement are the same. Crimes committed on the online and physical world should not be subject to different sentences. Increasing the penalties for online infringement will therefore make the law coherent," which is written in the Gowers Review.
Record and movie studios have been entrenched in a long battle against file sharing, with little support provided by governments and ISPs. FAST originally wanted a voluntary agreement between copyright owners and ISPs, but thinks a deal between the two sides is "unlikely."
