Virgin Media and Universal have announced plans for an unlimited music download subscription service which they hope will help end illegal file sharing.

The internet service provider (ISP) said the tracks will be free of [jb] digital rights management software and its broadband customers will be able to stream, download and copy music to any music player. Even if the Virgin customer ends the subscription the tracks will be theirs to ‘keep’.

Neil Berkett, Virgin Media’s chief executive offer said: "In terms of both convenience and value, our new music service will be superior to anything that's available online today and provides a fair deal for both consumers and artists.

"There is no better example of Virgin Media's commitment to harnessing digital technology to give customers what they want, when they want and how they want."

However the ISP intends to get tougher on illegal file sharers. Copyright holders use third party companies to log the [jb} IP addresses of these people on file sharing sites. This data is then given to an ISP who can identify the person. Virgin said it would not give personal information out but would continue its policy of ‘education’. If its letters are ignored it said it reserved the right to disconnect temporarily the internet connection of persistent offenders.

“We won’t disconnect people on a permanent basis and are investigating various lengths of time a disconnection will last,” a representative for the ISP told us.

Although under the proposed European Union Telecoms legislation national governments would not be able to legislate in favour of such a three strikes rule, companies can choose not to sell their services to a customer if they consider it is being abused.

The ISP has not set prices for its music download service yet and plans a two tiered service. For light users it plans an “entry level” offer as well as an ‘all you can eat’ subscription that will cost around £20. As well as Universal, Virgin is also in talks with other record labels and hopes to get them onboard as well when the service launches later in the year.