Peter Mandelson's proposal to disconnect households that illegally download is rejected by Conservatives

Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP has told the Financial Times that the Conservatives will not support Lord Mandelson's suggestion that households found guilty of illegally downloading music and movie files should lose their internet connection:

"A legal threat to disconnect users could have the unintended consequence of stifling innovation in areas such as video games, where the UK has a strong creative base, Mr Hunt told the Financial Times.

“Do we really want to prosecute someone that does a video of their cat with a Beatles soundtrack behind it and posts it on YouTube?” Mr Hunt said.

He stressed that the Conservatives recognised that illegal file-sharing was a serious problem requiring “some legislative back-up” to industry-led approaches."

Tim Montgomerie

Update on 16th September: Louise Bagshawe claims FT misrepresented Jeremy Hunt's view