Organisations that turn a blind eye to the ways in which employees use and abuse their broadband connections may soon need to reconsider Internet Usage Policies. Read the report below and contact us on 0844 412 8102 if you wish to discuss web filtering for your own network.
 

New responsibilities on ISPs will implicate businesses that offend

Since the passage of the Digital Economy Act, ISPs have been given new responsibilities to provide copyright infringement bodies with the IP address of those found infringing digital copyright laws. Under a proposed code of practice set to be introduced by Ofcom by spring 2011, copyright holders will then have the ability to contact serial infringers and take legal action against them.

However illegal file sharing and distribution is far from exclusive to personal IP addresses. Many employees are likely to take advantage of the high speed upload and download speeds offered by corporate networks, as well as the anonymity of an organisational IP to break the law.

This places companies at risk of both prosecution and fines of up to £250,000 under the new law, meaning that enterprises must take a more active in policing internet traffic on their servers and IP addresses. Already the worldwide recording industry association, the IFPI, has warned on its website that companies must take more responsibility for how their employees use the internet at work.

Whilst to date many companies have had neither the inclination or the means to effectively discern what kinds of traffic are taking place on their company’s bandwidth, with the passage of the Digital Economy Act adopting this kind of policy and technology will become vital.