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SALT LAKE CITY — A controversial agreement between Internet service providers that aims to battle casual piracy went into effect this week, but while some have said it is merely an "educational tool," others have decried a perceived lack of transparency with the program.
The Copyright Alert System, also known as "six strikes," was developed by the Center for Copyright Information, which represents ISPs and members of the recording and film industry. The group agreed in 2011 to come up with a plan that would give progressively more severe warnings to those allegedly breaking copyright law.
The five largest ISPs in the U.S. — AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon — have signed on to the agreement, which is not a new law or regulation, but a private agreement.
Under the agreement, the first two times you appear to be pirating files, you'll get an email and a voicemail saying you've been caught. The third and fourth times, you'll be redirected to an "educational" landing page and may have to complete the educational material before continuing. The fifth and sixth times, your Internet speeds will be slowed to a crawl: for two days on the fifth offense, and for three days on the sixth offense.
If you disagree with the allegations, you can fight them in front of the American Arbitration Association for $35. If you win, the fee will be refunded.
One question that has been raised is what happens on shared residential Wi-Fi networks, where the owner may not be aware of exactly what is going on with his or her network. Whether the network is unsecured or shared only with family members, the CCI said it is hoping to promote a culture of responsibility when it comes to casual piracy. The owner of the network will still be responsible for all network activity.
The CCI said the policy will help fight copyright infringement in three ways:
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- Making account holders aware that unlawful content sharing may have happened using their Internet account
- Educating account holders on how they can prevent copyright infringement from happening again
- Providing consumers information about ways to access digital content legally
The CCI stresses that no personal information about consumers is shared between ISPs and content owners. Instead, entertainment companies will join peer-to-peer networks and find content they own, confirm it is copyrighted and identify the user by the IP address associated with the account.
The system has been criticized, though, for a lack of transparency. Ars Technica notes that of all the ISPs involved, only Verizon has posted any information about the act for consumers. The Verizon alert summarizes how the system works and notes that on the fifth and sixth offenses, Internet speed will be slowed to 256Kbps — a little faster than dial-up speed.
"We'll let you know 14 days before any reduction in speed is scheduled to occur," the statement said.
Gigi Sohn, president of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, urged everyone involved to be more transparent about the system, and "after the system has been in place for a time, to provide the public data that shows how the system is working."
The system is rolling out this week, beginning with Comcast on Monday. Other ISPs will implement the system later in the week.
