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Clause 4 — Obligation to notify subscribers of reported infringements

Part of Business of the House – in the House of Commons at 10:00 pm on 7 April 2010.

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Photo of Mark Todd Mark Todd Labour, South Derbyshire 10:00, 7 April 2010

Is my hon. Friend sure that a postal delivery will suffice? Many people may have chosen to form a contract with an ISP at some stage before moving, and may not have seen any particular reason to notify the ISP of a change of address.

Annotations

Paul Annett
Posted on 8 Apr 2010 2:01 pm (Report this annotation)

If an internet connection is active, the ISP will have the correct physical location of the property on file. If you move house and do not give your ISP your new address then your internet connection will remain on in your old property and not in your new property.

Chris Rusbridge
Posted on 8 Apr 2010 2:02 pm (Report this annotation)

It is clearly not possible to continue to receive Internet Service via ADSL after having moved address without having informed the ISP, since the equipment required would otherwise remain connected to the old address.

Alex Butcher
Posted on 8 Apr 2010 2:36 pm (Report this annotation)

Conceivably those still using dialup, or using 3G, or WiFi ISPs could move without informing their ISP of such a fact, as long as they're still paying their bills.

I'll concede that, with the exception of 3G, those circumstances are fairly unlikely today, in 2010.

James Barthol
Posted on 8 Apr 2010 2:37 pm (Report this annotation)

I can't be sure this is what was on the MPs mind, but it's true that 'Service Address' and 'Billing Address' are different things. Often they are the same, but not always. Further, Service Address is simply a physical location that is technically capable of being hooked up. There's no guarantee that mail can be delivered to it. Billing Address has to be a mailing address as that's where the bills go. Hypothetically, I could be paying for grandmas Internet. She's still in the nursing home, but I moved and forgot to tell the ISP where to send the bills, but the post is forwarding them.

mary branscombe
Posted on 8 Apr 2010 2:44 pm (Report this annotation)

As broadband Internet connections are a physical wire (copper or fibre) coming into a building, the ISP will always have the current physical address matching a connection. That might not match the address of the person paying the bill in some unusual circumstances, but it would match the address of the person using the connection and perpetrating the alleged offense (leaving aside the issue of someone abusing a shared or open Wi-Fi connection).