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The Internet Police are Coming!!

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RVR II:

--- Quote ---US ISPs become 'copyright cops' starting July 12


Published March 17, 2012


Comcast, Cablevision, Verizon, Time Warner Cable and other Internet service providers (ISPs) in the United States will soon launch new programs to police their networks in an effort to catch digital pirates and stop illegal file-sharing.

Major ISPs announced last summer that they had agreed to take new measures in an effort to prevent subscribers from illegally downloading copyrighted material, but the specifics surrounding the imminent antipiracy measures were not made available. Now, RIAA chief executive Cary Sherman has said that ISPs are ready to begin their efforts to curtail illegal movie, music and software downloads on July 12.

“Each ISP has to develop their infrastructure for automating the system,” Sherman said during a talk at the annual Association of American Publishers meeting, according to CNET. Measures will also be taken to establish databases “so they can keep track of repeat infringers, so they know that this is the first notice or the third notice. Every ISP has to do it differently depending on the architecture of its particular network. Some are nearing completion and others are a little further from completion.”

Customers found to be illegally downloading copyrighted material will first receive one or two notifications from their ISPs, essentially stating that they have been caught. If the illegal downloads continue, subscribers will receive a new notice requesting acknowledgement that the notice has been received. Subsequent offenses can then result in bandwidth throttling and even service suspension.

The news comes shortly after the closure of file-sharing giant Megaupload and increased pressure on other networks thought to be major hubs for the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials. Some studies show that these measures have had no impact on piracy, however, so organizations like the RIAA have been lobbying for ISPs to intervene and develop systems that will allow them to police their networks and directly address subscribers who illegally download copyrighted content.


--- End quote ---

SJP:
Well, at least this is a nicer way of going about it than the 'Ubisoft' method.  It's targeting people who do it, and it does so in gradual stages instead of going straight to the FBI and the whole "6 Months in Jail, $125,000 in Fines" thing that's at the beginning of every movie ever made.  Will it work?  Don't know...I don't use filesharing, but I'm sure there are methods around it out there.  But anything that's more of a bother to the people actually doing the infringing as opposed to the customers who are minding their own business is certainly a much more winning method in my book.

Of course, I think the real issue at hand here, seeing as it's the RIAA that's at the forefront, is that the music industry still seems incapable of realizing that they need to do a major overhaul in their business model.  The movie industry has gone through more stable platforms in the past decade than the music industry has in 30 years, and movie studios still seem to be profitable even with piracy going on.  If you haven't changed much in a third of a century and suddenly your profits are dwindling, there may be a problem with YOU, not with everyone else.

MrTorso:
I wonder how exactly this is going to be accomplished. I guess if you are using a P2P system it will be fairly easy but direct downloads from a site? or Usenet?  How are they going to prove infringement? It will be interesting to see.

stansimpson:
Looks like I'll be figuring out how to use Usenet in the next coming months. Stupid old habits dying hard.

RVR II:
I know my local ISP is watching me as I've already received one letter 2 years ago about exceeding my bandwidth due to a total of 541G downloaded in one month by my friend who was house sitting my place while we were in Mexico, and even a phone call from my ISP with regards to a Star Wars game a few years ago by my old roommate.. ::)
This could've been done as well via wireless router (someone hacking into it and stealing your bandwidth) which is now wired only.

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