In a first for a music trade group and an ISP, Virgin Media is teaming up with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to educate its customers on illegal downloading. The ISP will send to customers it suspects of illegal downloading will be sent information on legal download sources and other information. From the press release:

As part of the campaign, customers whose accounts appear to have been used to distribute music in breach of copyright will receive informative letters, one from Virgin Media and one from the BPI. Accounts will be identified to Virgin Media on the basis of information supplied by the BPI. Both letters will be distributed by Virgin Media, without the need to disclose customer names and addresses to the BPI.

And further on...

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI added: “Education is absolutely key to reducing the extent of illegal downloading, and we are pleased to be working with Virgin Media on this campaign. We believe that new partnerships with ISPs can help build an internet in which music is properly valued. That will benefit not just musicians, songwriters and labels, but all internet users who love music. This joint campaign with Virgin Media is the first step towards achieving that goal.”

I don't think education is the key to a material decrease in illegal downloading. Perhaps subscribers would get so annoyed by frequent receipt of "informative letters" that they'd change behavior just to avoid getting them. Anyway, I highly doubt this is the sort of partnership the BPI really wants. No, trade groups want filtering and revenue sharing. But "informative letters" are an improvement on the sour relations typically had by these parties.

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