The boss of Talk Talk yesterday took up the gauntlet thrown down by record labels trade body the BPI and hit out at proposals by the music industry that Internet service providers should take a more active role in preventing illegal file sharing online saying it wasn't their job to police the Internet.

The boss of Talk Talk yesterday took up the gauntlet thrown down by record labels trade body the BPI and hit out at proposals by the music industry that Internet service providers should take a more active role in preventing illegal file sharing online saying it wasn't their job to police the Internet.

Carphone Warehouse and Talk Talk CEO Charles Dunstone issued a statement criticising the BPI and rejecting their demands for assistance in fighting online copyright infringement. He told reporters: "We are the conduit that gives users access to the Internet, we do not control the Internet nor do we control what our users do on the Internet. I cannot foresee any circumstances in which we would voluntarily disconnect a customer's account on the basis of a third party alleging a wrong doing. We believe that a fundamental part of our role as an Internet service provider [ISP] is to protect the rights of our users to use the Internet as they choose".

He added that he was of the opinion that the record industry, who were struggling because of their own failures to adapt to the digital age, were simply looking to "foist their problems on someone else". The BPI quickly responded to Dunstone's statement, claiming that the Talk Talk boss was seriously misrepresenting, or possibly misinterpreting, their requests saying that it was not unreasonable to involve ISPs in the fight against illegal downloaders saying "We believe that any socially responsible ISP should, as a core part of its business, put in place steps to help their customers avoid engaging in illegal activity, and deter those who knowingly break the law." Against a background of the UK government telling labels and ISPs to talk, the the BPI recently posted their

 views at http://www.bpi.co.uk/isp-partnership