Virgin 'mistakenly' issues cut off threats

Virgin Media has sent letters headed "if you don't read this, your internet could be disconnected" to 800 customers who were suspected of illegal file-sharing.

However the provider, which is taking part in an anti-piracy "education" initiative with the BPI, put the use of the phrase down to a "mistake".

Virgin denied the scheme involved cutting off anyone believed to be sharing music illegally, an approach advocated by the record industry group.

"It is important to let our customers know that their accounts have been used in a certain way but we are happy to accept it may not be the account holder that's involved," said a Virgin spokesman. "It could be someone else in the family or someone living in a shared house. It could even be someone stealing wi-fi. We are not making any form of accusation."

Virgin and the BPI announced at the beginning of last month that they would both send "informative letters" to customers who were suspected of sharing copyright material.