Just recently, British ISP BE Broadband conducted this survey of their users to anticipate the impact of the Digital Economy Act. The IP-focused enforcement initiative is currently focusing on stern letter-writing, with a view towards disconnected lines and disrupting offending accounts.
But how would subscribers react? According to this survey by BE Broadband, a large percentage of subscribers would take steps to mask their IP addresses and accounts, while another chunk would just keep trading as usual. Just 1% would simply stop cold-turkey.
Granted, this is survey conducted by a highly-interested party. ISPs hate the Digital Economy Act, and have been lobbying and legislating aggressively against its passage. That may have skewed the survey process, though it also raises another issue: when subscribers evade, will ISPs simply look the other way?
