Virgin first out of the stalls with anti-piracy music deal — sort of

15 Jun 2009 | 15.14 Europe/London

Two months after it appointed a Head of Music, Virgin Media has teamed up with Universal to provide a music download and streaming service. The deal, which is seen by some as an anti-piracy measure to pre-empt Stephen Carter's Digital Britain report, should be available around Christmastime.

Details of the service have not yet been made public, but the monthly cost is expected to be around the £15 mark, and will allow the consumer to download on an "all you can eat" basis — so far, so Jabba the Hutt. Although Universal, home to artists including Kanye, La Roux, Girls Aloud. Amy Wino and the wondrous Elton John, is the first label to sign up, but Virgin is in talks with other labels. Richard Branson described the deal as "a world first... truly unique."

Although the idea is not exactly a piracy killer, Virgin is coming up with interesting ways of firing shots across the bows of persistent file-sharing offenders. Both go-slows and suspending the user's Internet access for five-minute periods have already been mooted, since the three-strikes-and-you're-out proposal has been all but blown out of the water.

[Guardian Online and BBC News]