Virgin Media, a major Internet services provider (ISP) in the United Kingdom, has sent out warning letters to suspected music file-sharers who have infringed on copyright. Approximately 800 letters have been sent out so far in an envelope marked, "Important. If you don't read this, your broadband could be disconnected." According to the BBC's Radio 1 Newsbeat, Virgin Media now say that their threat of disconnecting customers from the Internet was a "mistake", and they are merely running an "education-only" drive.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which represents the British music industry and is equivalent to the RIAA in the United States, has collaborated with Virgin Media and other ISP's to try and clamp down on peer-to-peer file sharing. However, other ISP's have refused to sign up with the BPI which could result in them being taken to court for not stopping their customers illegally sharing copyrighted music.

Could this be the start of things to come or is the BPI just flexing its muscles?

The digital music service, Amie Street, has forged a deal with digital media distributer, The Orchard, to bring over 1 million new tracks to its catalog. Amie Street specializes in independent music and uses a dynamic pricing structure based on the popularity of a song. Prices range from free to 98 cents depending on how many times a track has been downloaded. This new agreement is a major boost to Amie Street who will gain a significant quantity of major independent artists covering over 2,500 record labels.

With this new deal, Amie Street hopes to strengthen its market share in the independent digital music download sector and appeal to consumers that use services such as eMusic, Napster, and the iTunes Store to discover new music.