Karoo would seek court order before suspending broadband service

Karoo, the only broadband provider in Hull, said that the broadband service of a customer would not be cut off unless the ISP receives a court order for such an action.

Until the July end, Karoo (Kingston Communications) internet provider was suspending the connections of its customers who were allgedly downloading copy-righted files without a warning. One woman’s service was cutoff because she was suspected of downloading a movie (the BBC report). Several others who were suspected of illegal file sharing found their services suspended by Karoo without a warning.

Analysts and digital freedom campaigners found this ‘one-strike’ policy as deadly and charged the ISP for “exceeding the expectations of copyright owners, the media and internet users.”

Karoo provider immediately announced its shift in policy towards this delicate issue that it would send three written warning letters to the suspected customers before suspending the service. The new policy will allow the broadband ISP to take action on the customers on the basis of information provided by the anti-piracy tracking companies.

TorrentFreak website took the issue a bit further by asking this question to Karoo:

“How does Karoo – indeed any ISP – know that it is acting on accurate information from the copyright holders when it chooses to accuse its customers of acting illegally on their behalf? How does an ISP know that the anti-piracy companies haven’t made a terrible mistake?”

Karoo replied to this question in a statement:

“We will no longer suspend a customer’s service unless we receive a court order from a copyright owner taking legal action. As a result it is the responsibility of the legal system, not Karoo, to ensure the accuracy of the information provided by the copyright owners.”

Has Karoo adopted neutral approach to this issue? Does it seem that Karoo ISP wants to distant itself from the war between copyright owners and illegal file sharers?