A scheme allowing broadband customers to choose age ratings for their internet connections could help prevent piracy at its source and reduce the need for draconian legislation to punish file-sharers, one of Britain’s broadband providers said on Friday.

Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, which operates the TalkTalk broadband network, says a cinema-style rating system would be a “good shorthand” to help consumers understand a system that blacklists sites that facilitate piracy.