People who illegally share files online should have their broadband connection disconnected if they ignore warnings to stop, according to an alliance of creative industries.
The government should include provisions to disconnect internet users who illegally download content in this summer's Digital Britain report, a group of organisations has claimed.
A coalition of groups, including the British Phonographic Industry and the Federation Against Copyright Theft, believes the upcoming report on the future of the UK's broadband network should include steps to take on piracy. The Digital Britain report, an early draft of which has already been released, includes measures to protect some digital content.
But the group wants the government to go a step further and send warnings to illegal file-sharers - and disconnect them if they continue to ignore these warnings.
John Woodward, head of the UK Film Council, told the BBC that more than 50 percent of British internet traffic is illegal - and this situation is putting people's livelihoods at risk. He said that the "growing threat" of illegal file-sharing means "films go unmade, DVD sales deteriorate and jobs are lost in production and distribution of content".
The call comes shortly after a high-profile trial in Sweden, which saw the creators of one of the world's best-known file-sharing sites - The Pirate Bay - jailed after a court case.
