The top man of record label trade body the BPI and the boss of entertainment retail organisation ERA have both added their signatures to an open letter published in The Times yesterday supporting the government's recent announcement that it will take a more hardline approach to combat file-sharing, and introduce measures to force ISPs to take action against persistent file-sharers sooner rather than later.

As previously reported, Peter Mandelson and friends are moving to bring forward anti-P2P activity proposed in the government's 'Digital Britain' report, but originally planned as something to consider in two or three years time rather than now. Geoff Taylor and Kim Bayley joined with top people from organisations like the Publishers' Association and the Premier League to encourage Mandy et al to keep up the new momentum on P2P, despite opposition for the internet service providers and some consumer groups.

The open letter notes: "We agree that any measures to tackle online copyright infringement must be fair, proportionate, effect and include an appeals mechanism. We are committed to working with government and internet service providers to ensure this happens".