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Internet service providers are set to launch a new anti-piracy scheme this summer designed to alert and eventually punish suspected copyright infringers. The new policy was unveiled last year when top ISPs including Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon announced their participation in a "graduated response" program to deal with illegal file sharing, bowing to pressure from the RIAA and MPAA with help from the U.S. government.
In a panel discussion in front of some of the biggest U.S. publishers yesterday, the head of the RIAA Cary Sherman announced that the policies will come into effect July 12th.
Under the program ISPs will be required to monitor their users' online activities for illegal file sharing. Those caught downloading copyrighted materials would receive a series of escalating warnings, starting with one or two "educational notices" informing users that what they're doing is illegal and asking them to stop.
If these warnings are ignored a new tier of notices kicks in where the customer is required to acknowledge receipt of the warnings and sign a "pledge" to stop pirating. Finally, those who are caught yet again can expect to receive an alert informing them that a "Mitigation Measure" has been applied to their account.
The program is reminescent of France's three-strike system, although it's not quite as harsh. France's HADOPI law requires ISPs to give alleged infringers two warnings before being disconnected and/or fined. In contrast, U.S. ISPs will issue more warnings before implementing a mitigation measure, which only includes things like throttling of upload or download speeds, or altering your landing page to "remind you" not to pirate.
There's no uniform system for ISPs to use in order to catch downloaders. Instead, each of them will have to develop their own and establish a database to keep track of repeat infringers. The number of warnings at each level is also up to the ISPs, as is the specific nature of the so-called mitigation measure. So far no participating ISP has agreed to cut off a customer’s internet service permanently.
Although the measure feels less draconian than initiatives like PIPA/SOPA, it's hardly an ideal solution considering it relies on IP addresses as proof of guilt and the fact that the courts aren't even involved.
User Comments: 57
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Hardly. I stream 3d movies via Vudu through my 3dtv, VERY high bandwidth involved. HD movies streamed legally through netflix, blockbuster, vudu, hulu, etc will also eat quite a bit of bandwidth. Bandwidth caps and punishing users for using their 'high speed internet' for what it's there for is going to lead to a lot of people ditching their bigger ISP's and looking into other sources. This is a bold and quite moronic move. I have 3 unlocked wireless sources with decent strength I can surf on at my place... and the way this all looks, I surf worry free regardless of what I do (mind you I stick to the legal side of streaming/DLing, but not the point.)
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high traffic volume also means nothing.
I'm an open source software developer who is involved with several software projects on a voluntary basis, aswell as also developing software as a job to the pay the bills.
as such my average monthly download is around 180Gb & upload around 30GB.
simply basing on traffic volume will punish a lot of developers!
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@Klip
All the posters keep talking about how they justify theft. Here in America you get a slap on the wrist. In other contries they take your hand. I would say Capitalism in and of itself is a very fair and balanced system, where even the little guy has a chance to make it big. In Theory. It falls down to personal Honor. What do you do when the only person watching you is you. Its more then theft of goods and services. Its theft of our moral fiber. We as a nation have come to accept stealing as a no big thing.
I always point it back to role reversal. What if you were the person who was being stolen from. What if it was your product other ppl were stealing? How would you feel?
Now apply that logic to yourself and your actions. People refuse to see anyside of any issue that doesnt involve them getting something out of it.
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Zilpha said:
OMG you ppl act as if you have any rights on the internet. You have the same expectation of privacy on the internet as you have on a cellphone. NONE! You have to go through an ISP or in the case of a cellphone a provider. They have been snooping your info for years. The only right you have is to annonimity to the general web browsing public. You had to register your name and address as well as any information they require with a ISP.Think on this......Eventually all that lovely information you have registerd with the ISp will come back on you. Its called being BlackBalled. SO they determine you are a offender to their new policy. They then start blocking you from having your own internet provider. Eventually some of the smarter sheep will try and get a family member or freind to setup the web for them. And in the usual fashion, they will ruin that family members or freinds ability to get internet.
Someone's been indoctrinated.
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What is most funny to me is that prohibited are not those who upload and transmit pirate content, but those who download. It's like punishing drug addicts instead of drug dealers.
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lol both are punished if caught.. lol
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lol it wont stop anything there are programs that change your ip address every hour or time you want it to change. ppl who are against pirating fail because when there's a will there's a way. example war on drugs and gangs they didn't go down they went up. so most likely ppl will pirate more use programs that block peeping or the program that changes ip. lol it will fail.
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