Virgin Media, one of the UK's biggest internet service providers, has sent about 800 letters to customers warning them that they should not be downloading music files illegally.

The warning letters are part of a 10-week campaign Virgin Media is running in conjunction with the BPI, the body which represents the UK record industry.

According to the BPI "thousands more" letters will be sent. Virgin Media is insisting that this is an education-only campaign, despite a warning threatening customers with disconnection appearing on the envelope.

This was a mistake, the company admitted, and the campaign will be reviewed in August.

So far only Virgin Media has signed up to the BPI's letter campaign. The BPI wants to introduce a 'three-strikes' policy, similar to the one in France, where repeat offenders could have their web access suspended or even be disconnected.

The 800 letters that have been sent out represent only a fraction of the 3.8 million customers signed up to Virgin Media. One of the complaints against the campaign is that it does not differentiate between serial downloaders, who download thousands of songs, and those who download just one song.

Mark Mulligan, an analyst with Jupiter Research said that policy could have an impact on families with children who file-share illegally.

"Imagine the situation: mum or dad picks up a letter from the doormat on the way out to work, realising to their shock that their kids are using illegal file-sharing networks," Mulligan said.

A fifth of Europeans use file-sharing networks, according to Jupiter Research. Paid-for diigital music services such as iTunes are used by just 10 per cent and make up just eight per cent of overall music revenue.

What do you think of the latest crusade to prevent illegal downloading? Let us know in the Web User forums.

www.virginmedia.com
www.bpi.co.uk
www.jupiterresearch.com

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