UK reports indicate that the rules for the UK's three strikes system will exempt all ISPs with under 400,000 subscribers. While the move is described as creating "piracy havens" it is consistent with the regulatory assessment that identified the competitive impact on small ISPs of such a system and raised the possibility of exemption. I discussed the issue in a column earlier this year on the significant cost of three strikes.
UK Three Strikes Plan To Exempt Small ISPs
May 19, 2010
Share this post
2 Comments

Law Bytes
Episode 278: Ben Waldman on Gander Social and the Challenges of Building a Sovereign Social Network
byMichael Geist

August 10, 2026
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Michael Geist on Substack
Recent Posts
Years of Uncertainty: Bill C-22’s Missing Regulations and Secret Ministerial Orders
The Missing Charter Statement: Why Hasn’t the Government Explained How Bill C-34’s Social Media Ban Complies with the Charter?
Three Years After October 7th: Living With the Shockwaves
What If the U.S. Demanded This? The Cloud Provider Conditions Behind Canada’s EU Digital Pivot
Ontario is Done Waiting for Universities to Act on Campus Antisemitism

The fate of the 3 strikes plan is uncertain right now. It may end up being scrapped:
Lib Dems vote to axe parts of the Digital Economy Bill:
http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/news/20100519-lib-dems-vote-axe-parts-digital-economy-bill
Another very good read:
Chair Of The Featured Artist Coalition Explains File Sharing Isn’t Going Away; Artists Need To Innovate
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100506/0249579318.shtml