A Clever Spell

Chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, Charles Dunstone, believes that he has discovered the best possible solution to control the growing menace of online piracy. Though the method suggested by him seems a little odd, it is nevertheless a unique step in this direction.

Dunstone believes that just like cinema has an age restriction for viewers, the internet too should have an age-based rating system for the users. In a recent interview, he described how TalkTalk broadband network will be putting this rating system to use, and said that the type of connection will depend on the parents’ choice. Parents will decide whether to opt for a U, 14, or an 18 certificate, or an unclassified one for their home broadband connection.

Pornography, gambling and file- sharing sites will be disabled for those connections that have a U or a 14 certificate. The idea is to give parents the power to prevent children from visiting off-limit sites, which can bring the connection at risk of termination. Dunstone feels that logging on to file-sharing sites will thus become difficult, and the practice of content distribution through BitTorrent will receive a setback.

Recently, about a hundred British performers had gathered to find a way to stop the unlawful downloading of music through online file sharing. As an outcome of this discussion, it was felt that the best way to penalize music pirates is to stifle their downloading speeds. For information on your ISP and corresponding broadband speed, try using the broadband check from Broadband Genie to get a snapshot of your current download and upload speeds. It’s a good site to compare broadband deals from the top internet service providers.