UK Filesharers face being cut off from Internet

According to a BBC news article the UK government is planning on actively going after Internet Pirates by forcing ISP's to cut the Pirates off.

Anger from ISP's

Naturally the ISP's aren't at all thrilled about this proposal and claim that it just won't work. The heavy handed approach is not impressing the ISP's at all and claim that the attempt is rather "futile given that it is relatively easy for determined file-sharers to mask their identity or their activity to avoid detection". Apparently Lord Mandelson is backing this scheme but politicians on both sides of the house are split by the proposal.

Small Fish

Going after File Sharers, however white collar a crime it might be, looks to be the next "big" thing for politicians. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the Motion Picture Association have an unbelievable amount of clout and influence. The last couple of ridiculous trials in the USA prove it (Jammie Thomas, Joel Tennenbaum). The issue I have with these trials is that these people were not trying to make money from the copyright infringement which is, to my understanding, the heart of the copyright law. To protect someones work from being used by someone without permission for the purposes of profit.

Anonymity

There was a time when people thought they were anonymous on the Internet that no one could figure out who they where and what they were doing on the Internet. Those days are long gone, and will never return. In this digital age everything you do is to some degree recorded. Unless you buy something at a local store and pay with cash there is a digital trail of every purchase you make with your Credit Card, and or Bank Card. The problem is we have no idea to what level of information the ISP's are keeping on us and for how long.

1984

Perhaps a little hysteria, but if Lord Mandelson gets his way there will be a lot of people cut off from the internet. I fear if the law gets passed in England it will be easier for it to spread to other countries, and then what else will they watch our traffic for? Moralistic questionable activities?