[Chapter-delegates] US Six Strikes Anti-Piracy Scheme Delayed

[Livingood, Jason]

Some comments inline below.


- Jason

On 5/22/12 10:33 AM, "David Solomonoff" <president at isoc-ny.org> wrote:

>US ³Six Strikes² Anti-Piracy Scheme Delayed
>
>Soon the file-sharing habits of millions of BitTorrent users in the
>United States will be monitored

Actually this program does not somehow begin monitoring of BitTorrent
(P2P) users for the first time. Copyright holders already monitor P2P (not
ISPs) and send ISPs DMCA notices (which ISPs must serve in order to
maintain their DMCA safe harbor treatment), and have done so for many
years. 

>as part of an agreement between the
>MPAA, RIAA, and all the major ISPs. Those caught sharing copyright works
>will receive several warning messages and will be punished if they
>continue to infringe.

I've not seen what each ISP will do but I think most are simply sharing
the warning messages. If there are 'punishments' planned then I think it'd
be good for someone to list them, by ISP, but I have not seen this. The
bottom of the article says no ISPs are planning to terminate customers.

>However, it now appears that the much-discussed
>July start date will have to wait until later in the year as the parties
>involved may fail to meet the provisional deadline.
>
>In the coming months the Center for Copyright Information (CCI) will
>start to track down Œpirates¹ as part of an agreement all major U.S.
>Internet providers struck with the MPAA and RIAA.

I could be remembering this incorrectly but I thought the CCI was in
essence an arbitrator that an end user could complain to if they felt the
warning was sent in error, and that this body would then investigate that
on behalf of the user.

>The parties agreed on a system through which copyright infringers are
>warned that their behavior is unacceptable. After six warnings ISPs may
>then take a variety of repressive measures, which include slowing down
>offenders¹ connections and temporary disconnections.
>The plan was announced under the name ŒCopyright AlertsŒ in July last
>year and the first ISPs were expected to send out the first warnings
>before the end of 2011. But this deadline passed silently and as things
>stand now it looks like the July 1, 2012 deadline is not going to be met
>by all ISPs either.
>
>TorrentFreak asked the CCI about the upcoming target date, and their
>response suggests that things may take longer than expected.
>
>³The dates mentioned in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) are not
>hard deadlines but were intended to keep us on track to have the
>Copyright Alert System up and running as quickly as possible and in the
>most consumer friendly manner possible,² a spokesperson told us.
>
>³We do not intend to launch until we are confident that the program is
>consumer friendly and able to be implemented in a manner consistent with
>all of the goals of the MOU. We expect our implementation to begin later
>this year.²
>
>In other words, it¹s taking more time than expected. That said, the CCI
>did inform us that they have finally selected a third-party company that
>will be responsible for monitoring BitTorrent swarms. However, the name
>of the firm remains a secret for now.

The copyright holders already have business partners that monitor P2P,
which is how they are able to determine to whom to send DMCA notices. So
perhaps this is for independent verification in the case of the
aforementioned end user complaints?

>³The technology partner we have identified and begun working with is an
>independent and impartial expert and we expect to have an announcement
>about the independent expert shortly,² TorrentFreak was told.
>
>As described in the agreement, this independent ³technology partner²
>will first be tested by yet another independent expert to see if their
>data collection methods stand up to scrutiny. This is a possible reason
>for the ³delay² but there are many more.
>
>At their end the internet providers all have to create a system that
>allows them to keep track of the warnings. To ensure the privacy of
>subscribers, this database of alleged pirates is not stored centrally.
>
>Hoping to find out more about what type of punishments ISPs have planned
>and their views on the agreement, we contacted several of them.
>
>Verizon was quick to respond but didn¹t want to provide any details on
>the planned punishments. The ISP did say that they believe the voluntary
>agreement is the right solution for the piracy problem.
>
>³Verizon has always said that copyright infringement is wrong and
>through this voluntary consumer friendly system, we believe we can
>educate our consumers and offer them access to legal alternatives,² the
>company told TorrentFreak.
>
>³We believe this program offers the best approach to the problem of
>illegal file sharing and, importantly, is one that respects the privacy
>and rights of our subscribers. It also provides a mechanism for helping
>people to find many great sources of legal content.²
>
>Other Internet providers contacted by TorrentFreak, including Comcast
>and AT&T, did not respond to repeated inquiries about the BitTorrent
>crackdown.
>
>The CCI, however, ensured TorrentFreak that none of the ISPs has plans
>to terminate the accounts of subscribers.
>Temporary disconnections
>remain as one of the possible punishments. Which measures the various
>ISPs will choose remains a mystery for now. We¹ll publish more on this
>and other details of the scheme in the near future.
>
>
>https://torrentfreak.com/us-six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-delayed-120518/
> 
>(via shareaholic)
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