Tech Companies Unite to End Illegal Downloads
AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon have announced this week that they are uniting their efforts to penalize those who engage in movie and music piracy.
Over 300 music, movie and television companies will join Internet service providers to end the sharing of copyrighted materials.
On being caught downloading material illegally, users will be given a series of warnings. If they continue to ignore the warnings then after about five warnings, the use of an individual’s Internet connection may be made slower.
The process will start with the owner of a copyright complaining to an ISP about an illegal download. An ISP will then send an alert to the individual illegally downloading content, in the form of an e-mail.
The first warning will detail the legal methods of downloading music and movies. If piracy continues, a second alert will be sent to the subscriber.
Upon continued illegal downloading activity, a third and fourth alert will be sent in the form of a pop-up message or webpage. A fifth alert may warrant slower Internet speeds or instruct the user to answer education information about copyright.
The methods used in the fifth alert will be at the discretion of the ISP. However, the sixth alert will definitely disrupt normal Internet speeds and may include educational methods.
Companies involved in the efforts believe that the sixth alert should halt piracy with Internet users.
“This is a sensible approach to the problem of online content theft and, importantly, one that respects the privacy and rights of our subscribers,” said Randal S. Milch, executive vice president and general counsel for Verizon.
“We hope that effort – designed to notify and educate customers, not to penalize them – will set a reasonable standard for both copyright owners and ISPs to follow, while informing customers about copyright laws and encouraging them to get content from the many legal sources that exist.”
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, piracy costs the United States economy over 373,000 jobs and $16 billion annually. The lost state, local and federal tax revenues amount to $3 billion.
