After spending considerably effort putting legal pressure on Universities to stop file trading, expect the RIAA and MPAA this year to put their attention squarely on ISPs. The entertainment industry has ratcheted up pressure for ISPs to begin filtering pirated content, and NBC Universal would love to see filters placed within home broadband hardware. Most ISPs, with the exception of AT&T, aren't eager to become cyber-piracy nannies.

Some estimates say no less than 80 per cent of all internet traffic comprises copyright-infringing files on P2P networks. -IFPI

The pressure on ISPs is global. The entertainment industry's international arm, the IFPI, this week issued a report (via Paid Content) that claims that ISPs have allowed piracy to "run rampant" across their networks "under the guise of technological advancement."The IFPI wants European ISPs to implement a three strikes and you're out policy, whereby users get booted from the network after the third offense. Groups like the EFF have argued that such filters would curtail artist and consumer rights, interfere with the transfer of legitimate copyrighted materials, limit innovation, increase broadband prices and, most likely, ultimately do little to thwart piracy:Filters may also annoy investors who don't like the added cost of the ISP playing watchdog for other industries. Many customers will also quickly decide to find unfiltered broadband service elsewhere.