Flirgan Elf

It is almost certain now that according to the soon-to-be published final Digital Britain report, broadband customers found downloading copyrighted material will risk throttling their broadband speeds. Although this plan has got the thumbs up from many, Carphone warehouse CEO, Charles Dunstone, is not as optimistic.

Speaking to The Guardian after the release of the pre-tax profits of Carphone Warehouse, which posted an impressive figure of £133m, up £4m from last year, Dunstone said that if legislation to control the broadband speeds of those accused of online piracy were to be passed, it would merely end up looking ’stupid’.

As if bashing the suggestion itself was not enough, Dunstone added that politicians who are backing this move are nave to think technical solutions of this sort will work. His statements are perhaps not without justification and he does have alternative suggestions in place.

According to him, peer to peer networks are not the only means by which downloaders can get their share of pirated material as there are countless other ways to share files online. Comparing politicians’ efforts to the antics of Tom in the famous cartoon series Tom and Jerry, he tried to highlight how fruitless the exercise would be.

Giving his opinion on the approach that the government should take to fight piracy, Dunstone said that instead of making peer to peer connections inaccessible to users by cancelling their connections, services should be provided which would make copyrighted material easily and cheaply available. He also advocated educating people to make them aware of the importance of copyright. For broadband advice, a dedicated site like broadbandgenie is a good place to look whether you’re an old hand or new to broadband.