Well you see part of the issue is that to admit they're looking at what is downloaded (since they actually see just packets with hexadecimal string values to look at what it compiles would most likely involve "spyware" on your comp or guess work based off the sites you visit) would be tantamount to admitting that they're breaching your right of privacy by spying on you and infecting your computer with an illegal piece of software without your consent both of which would not only invalidate any evidence involved in legal proceedings it'd also incurr them a lawsuit.

Ofcourse they could possibly go through your history but doing so and tracking the many many sites accessed by a computer is very tedious and could take a long time even for a super computer to process if you consider how many people there are in the UK with an internet connection. Still it'd require guesswork to prove you're downloading illegally because you might have been infected with a downloader virus or could be downloading anything. File fragments especially those shared over torrenting is hard to track hence most ISPs will black list Torrenting in general which is a stupid idea because more and more legal sites are starting to accept the use of Torrent downloads to make things faster. Even Limewire and Open Office these days include torrent download streams when setting up.

As for fibre optical broadband, well to be honest it's a bit of flashy show. Sure glass won't degrade like copper does so fibre optics is a step in the right direction. However if you're not intending to just be faster than most servers or other users online in terms of gaming or downloading a shed load of films, music, games, software what is the point of such a gross speed? In all honesty without lots of downloading going on (and face it, untill the end of time, 95% of music downloads will be pirate distrobutions. It's rather like terrorism, if someone sets rules people will disagree, if they disagree then most will generally complain, some however rebel physically. I work for a record store so music piracy affects me in a big way but I accept facts over it.) it's pretty pointless I've had some pretty decent connection speeds on just my normal broadband.

If the music industry and the ISPs truly want to kill internet music and film piracy then it's a simple case of making the world even. Games, Anime and lots of decent TV shows or films never make it to the UK or Europe. If they actually got off their asses and released them over here legally with decent dubbing or subbing when needed it'd sell and if it's selling in the shops then it's less likely to be downloaded online illegally. Secondly, release movies, games and films at the same time worldwide. Not with weeks, months, years inbetween the US/Japan release and the UK release (Especially with games) The only way to shut down piracy is to drop their prices and to remove the necessity or attraction of piracy. If something was released at the same time (even if it was technically available from 4am in the morning or 9pm at night) worldwide would you bother downloading or buying a pirate copy of it? No you wouldn't because you'd be comfortable in the knowledge that somehow if you wanted to see it at 4am or 9pm or at any other release time you could do so because the market would always pander to demand shops opening at midnight for big releases, special screenings...the list goes on.

Some record labels fees are exhorbiant I've seen CDs for like £22 for one disc of 15 songs...£22 now, some is store markup to cover the profit and tax paid. Profit for the store is essential if they want to beat piracy since profit means staff wages and staff means shops and shops means more market bringing in more people and thus taking away from the pirates. If the same CD was £12 more people would buy it and since the band/artist makes like 50p a CD sold most of that difference covers just the production fees (note the slice taken for this is probably less than 5 pence per CD sold) thats a huge return per CD for the record label. Sell 1 million copies of that £22 CD and the cost of making the album is easily recovered. Sure the artist makes about 50k from it but still think how much the record label could be earning? Labels and publishing houses need to drop their fees some and suck it up because otherwise they just cannot ever beat piracy when a DVD quality rip file burnt to a cheap DVD-R spindle disc will play just as well and can be brought from the dodgy immigrant with nothing else to rely on for income for £2 - £5, why pay £10 - £15 for a DVD single disc edition with no extras (take batman begins, the extras on the 1 disc edition are: theatrical trailer. Who the hell wants the trailer when they've got the movie?) you're getting the same quality video, the ones you have to watch out for are the cam's they're the knockoff quality they harp on about.


EDIT: Note guys I am not condoning or encouraging illegal piracy, I am merely from the point of view my field of work and my own perspectives on life, the universe and everything giving my opinions on the idea that the threats to disconnect people from broadband are hollow since if the isp is earning money another isp will give you a contract even if virgin/bt/tiscali/orange whatever kick you off.