The CEO of Sony Pictures suggests illegal file sharers be temporarily disconnected to protect the film industry.

Our film Michael Jackson’s This Is It opens almost everywhere in the world tomorrow. With millions of Jackson fans on every continent, it wouldn’t make sense to do otherwise.

But there’s another reason why simultaneous worldwide releases of big movies make sense: piracy. If Sony released it only in the US on Wednesday, by late Thursday it would be camcorded, uploaded on to the internet and available free to anyone with a broadband connection.

… I’m not talking about state-imposed preservation of the status quo but I do support proposals that target people who persistently upload content for illegal file sharing, so that they can be warned by their ISP to stop, or face temporary suspension of their account. I don’t believe this will affect those who have shared files without knowing it was wrong, as they will have many opportunities to change their ways, without penalty.

The Times Online has Michael Lynton’s full article.