How changes in piracy policies might affect how you use the web.
It seems like just yesterday SOPA and PIPA were threatening to end the internet as we know it. General public outrage seems to have squashed those bills and they are currently dead in the water. But that doesn’t mean the Internet isn’t destined to change. An international pact called ACTA is still pending in the U.S. and could be more restrictive than the two aforementioned bills.
But did you know that an alternative to those bills, The Copyright Alert System, is already in place?
As a country, our main “product” is information, and the “Wild West” days of free information are nearly over. The proposed SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA are the equivalent of military police. The new “Copyright Alert System” is more like an elementary school principal. The main difference is this new system is bypassing the Government all together.
Heads of media (Music, Film, and TV) have partnered with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to try and quell illegal downloading by creating the Copyright Alert System. The stated goal of the Copyright Alert System is to educate us about copyright law when we are suspected of piracy. How do they plan to do this? They begin by sending email notifications, and after 5-6 warnings, they begin dolling out punishments.
The Copyright Alert System is not a law and has nothing to do with our government. It is described as a “best practices approach” that heads of media have created and ISPs have agreed to follow. These are supposedly not hard rules, but “recommendations”.
Here’s How it Works: When the ISP detects activity they consider piracy, the user whose account was used to download or upload the illegal material will receive a progressive string of email notifications. The first and second one are a heads up, informing the user what has happened, that it is illegal, and how they can instead get legal content. On the third, fourth, and fifth warning, the email is more harshly worded and asks them to confirm receipt. There are around 5 “warning emails” before any action is supposed to be taken, with that action being reduction in internet speeds, then finally account termination.
The system banks on the assumption that people are honest and won’t continue to pirate once they are told its wrong. Rumors persist that this is a “three strikes” system with the third strike being your ISP dumping you. This is inaccurate. In actuality, there is already language in all ISPs service agreements that say your account can be terminated for Piracy, but we all know Comcast will do whatever they can to keep customers. It simply isn’t in the ISP’s best interest to go around terminating accounts.
So don’t be fearful yet, for the majority of users, not much will change. If you start receiving notifications that you are suspected of piracy, you may want to consider finding different avenues to consume your media. This may just be the warm-up round though, as ACTA is on the horizon, and is slated to drastically change our precious internet forever.
