UK ISP TalkTalk has staged a wireless¹ stunt², aimed at illustrating³ why it thinks Lord Mandelson's plans to disconnect filesharers is "naive⁴".

英国互联网服务提供商TalkTalk出台一项无线措施，旨在说明为什么他们认为Mandelson爵士断绝文件共享的计划是“天真的”。

TalkTalk visited a street to prove stealing music was easy

TalkTalk has long been an outspoken⁵ critic（批评家，评论家） of government plans to cut off persistent⁶（固执的，坚持的） file-sharers.

The stunt（特技，噱头） demonstrates how innocent people could be disconnected from the network if the plans become law.

The British Phonographic Industry stressed that any new system would educate before disconnecting users.

The music industry has been lobbying government on the issue of internet piracy⁷. According to its figures, there are around 6 million active file-sharers in the UK.

The government is mulling whether to give regulator Ofcom the power to disconnect pirates who repeatedly download illegal content.

It follows intervention⁸ from Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to beef up the file-sharing policy originally outlined in the Digital Britain report.

Presumed guilt⁹

But ISPs have argued that it is not their job to police the network. In previous court cases it has been ruled that ISPs are "mere¹⁰ conduits（管道，水道）" of content.

Furthermore, they argue that under current plans anyone with unsecured home wi-fi could potentially be stolen by those intent to download music illegally.

They would face the penalties even though they might be unaware¹¹ their network had been used for nefarious¹²（违法的，邪恶的） purposes.

The fact that the music industry would presume guilt rather than innocence¹³ is a step away from the due process of law in the UK, they say.

"The Mandelson scheme is every bit as wrong-headed as it is naive," said Andrew Heaney, director of strategy and regulation at TalkTalk.

"The lack of presumption¹⁴ of innocence and the absence of judicial¹⁵ process combined with the prevalence of wi-fi hacking¹⁶ will result in innocent people being disconnected," he said.

Barry Manilow

In order to illustrate¹⁷ the point Matt Roxburgh, a security expert from TalkTalk, visited an ordinary street in Stanmore, Middlesex.

Within a couple of hours he had identified 23 wireless connections on residential¹⁸ street The Highway, which were unsecured.

He downloaded music files from two connections, including Barry Manilow's hit Mandy and the soundtrack to the 1992 film Peter's Friends.

In both cases, the residents had given prior permission to "be hacked¹⁹" and the content downloaded was legal.

TalkTalk plans to offer advice to all residents about how to secure their wi-fi networks.

Which? Computing²⁰ magazine has highlighted several cases where net users were wrongly accused of illegally sharing video games.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) remains²¹ confident that its "robust（强壮的，强健的）" evidence-gathering system will not allow innocent people to be caught in the net in the same way as has happened in the video game industry.

For those who have had their wi-fi connection hacked into, there would be no immediate²² threat of disconnection, said BPI spokesman Adam Liversage.

"The account holder²³ would receive a notification in the first instance, which would represent an opportunity to discuss filesharing with others in the household and which would provide the account holder with the information and tools to help ensure that the account is not used illegally again," he said.

"This information would extend to explaining to the account holder how they can secure their wireless router to ensure that it isn't accessed by unknown third parties," he added.

'Mistakes occur'

But ultimately, householders will be held to account for what happens on their own networks, he added.

"The responsibility for ensuring that an internet account shared throughout a household is not being used for illegal filesharing clearly lies with the account holder," he said.

A statement from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said:

"We realise it's possible for mistakes to occur or for people to have their wi-fi connection hi-jacked. So it's important we have an independent and easy route of appeal at all stages in the process.

At the moment we envisage²⁴（面对，正视） a tribunal（法院，法庭） system to which people would have recourse before any action was taken against them."

The government's decision is due at the same time as the draft Digital Economy Bill, which will appear alongside or shortly after the Queen's Speech to parliament in November.