The music industry has been in trouble for a while now. It is getting harder and harder to make money selling records and record labels believe they are being swindled by people who share their music collections online, for free.

The trouble is, even if they're right, these proposals won't solve their problem. There are many perfectly legitimate uses for filesharing websites - and ISPs have no easy way to tell the difference.

The rash of legal cases in America, in which the RIAA, the US equivalent of the BPI, the British industry regulator, has sued grannies, small children and even dead people, shows that catching music "pirates" is easier said than done.

Even if you can navigate the sea of lawsuits and determine whom to exclude from the system, how do you go about banning them from the internet? What if the perpetrator were to borrow a friend's machine, or use a spouse's name and bank details, or use their office computer?

These proposals are not just hard to enforce; they're unlikely even to work. Those who dabble in filesharing may be deterred, but they're unlikely to stop sharing music. The hardcore filesharers will see this legislation as a challenge. There are already several ways to surf the net and share files anonymously. These services will attract more customers if this legislation goes through.