Matt Phillips, Director of Communications at the BPI (British Phonographic Industry), speaks to TechRadar about yesterday's breakthrough announcement that six of the main Internet Service Providers have signed up to a MOU in a bid to curb illegal filesharing. Here is what he has to say...

TechRadar: What will actually be in the letters?

Matt Philips: There's no definite letter as of yet. It will most probably be along the lines of the letters we sent out in partnership with Virgin Media. I imagine the tone would be more informational than "threatening".

The Virgin Media letters essentially outline why the customer has been written to, advises the customer that 'their account has been identified by us [the BPI] as being used to illegally fileshare music'' and then provide the customer information on how to put the problem right.

TR: Will there be one standard letter?

MP: Probably not. We'll discuss all this with each ISP, but the letters will most likely be tailored for each ISP – as the providers will probably all want to do things slightly differently.

TR: What happens after the letters have been sent?

MP: The letter writing process starts now, but in addition, all of the signatories to this deal – the six ISPs, the BPI and government will work with Ofcom to determine what measures will be appropriate for those people who chose not to follow the advice in the letters.

It has been well-publicised that the BPI is all for a graduated response system. We call it 'three step'.

Under this policy, persistent illegal file-sharers would face the sanction of having their contracts cancelled by the ISP.

We believe this is the cleanest and simplest way of dealing with the situation. But the deal proposes alternative technical methods such as traffic shaping, filtering and bandwidth throttling. These technologies already exist, and we're open to this discussion.

Frankly, we want to see the problem remedied and this deal puts in place a real framework to progress ahead of regulation.

TR: What have the ISPS actually signed up for?

MP: Signing this memorandum of understanding (MOU) does not change anyone's legal position, but represents a good faith commitment to engage in tackling the problem.

Under the MOU, the ISPs have committed to sending out a minimum of 1,000 letters a week each, for three months, before escalating the numbers, which would amount to a minimum of 300,000 letters.