Obama Admin Backing New Six Strikes ISP Policy
The Obama Administration is reportedly behind a new "six strikes" policy conjured up by five major American ISPs.
AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon Wireless have banded together to become a new team of copyright cops in order to help numerous copyright holders wage their war against piracy.
Announced on Thursday, these five companies have agreed to send out warning letters to subscribers caught downloading illegal copies of movies, TV shows and music. The group says that the plan won't violate customer privacy nor will it permanently disconnect them for bad behavior, but worst case scenarios mean that their internet connections will be throttled and/or a person-to-person discussion with the ISP itself.
According to various reports, the offending subscriber will receive a warning email or an online alert after the ISP receives a complaint from a copyright holder. The warning may be followed by a second warning if the illegal downloading persists, or the ISP may instead move to the third stage and activate a popup message or a landing page to make sure the end-user gets the message. The landing page or popup will appear again if the ISP receives a fourth complaint.
On the fifth complaint, ISPs have agreed to either throttle the offending user's connection, or force them to review and respond to educational information on copyright by blocking internet access with a landing page. At this point, ISPs can carry out this particular discipline, or simply issue a fifth alert. But if a sixth complaint is received, ISPs will either throttle the connection or require educational measures. Again, users won't be disconnected permanently, and their personal information will not be forwarded to copyright holders. That said, the ISPs reaffirmed that they still retain their right to cut off any user who violated their terms of service.
“The ISPs want to cooperate with Hollywood because the carriers recognize that their own growth depends in part on bundled content strategies,” said Eric Garland of BigChampagne, which tracks online media traffic. “They don’t want to be just utilities providing Internet access, but premium content distributors as well.”
According to the New York Times, the companies are hoping that the effect on consumers will be more of a "deterrent-by-annoyance" rather than the random Ban-Hammer of litigation that the recording industry association once chose as the preferred method of enforcement. Both the RIAA and MPAA have recently stuck a brick wall in some cases, as various judges have thrown out John Doe complaints due to their belief that they have no jurisdiction over possible offenders residing out-of-state. As of late, these judges have requested solid proof that copyright offenders were discovered to be within their jurisdiction before proceeding any further.
Naturally there are doubts that the new plan will work. The new system seemingly focuses on users who share files on BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer networks. But there are other tools for downloading music and video that aren't quite as obvious including newsreaders accessing Usenet. What will happen to those stubborn offenders who just keep downloading copyrighted content after the sixth warning?
"The challenge is that consumers will continue to do whatever they wish on the Internet, and find clever ways to not attract the attention of the content companies or ISPs,” Garland said. "It will never end."
The agreement between the five ISPs is supposedly the work of "several powerful players" led by the Obama administration including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). The White House reportedly is also heavily leveraging the threat of legislation to coerce the ISPs into sticking to the policing scheme.
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Watch out, here comes Uncle Sam
This should, sadly, surprise no one. In all honesty, I'm surprised that it didn't happen sooner.
I have a feeling I'm going to find myself doing the same things I did ~20 years ago (networking with local individuals for share parties. Then it was music, now, I suppose, it will be everything else.
P.S. I am sad that the federal government is so blatantly beholden to deep pockets. Wouldn't it be nice if things worked more like democracy and less like a plutocracy?
here comes the dead of a need for faster adsl & co.
I wonder how much they contribute to his campaign efforts.
It really is a invasion of privacy. No on should know what you do on the web that you pay for., especially companies that rip you off at every corner.
It's getting to the point where you have to choose give up technology or give up your freedom.
this actually strikes me as being more loose then current regulations (assuming that you arent being sued during warnings 1-5). not to mention i wonder how tightly tracked this would all be. accumulate 5 warnings, switch isp, or simply change billing info on account
Once ISP's start losing subscribers due to this new legislation, they'll probably back off from it.
This act is supposed to stop the people that well are frankly too stupid to use Usenet. Me and my room mate download things from Usenet all the time. A slow month we will download 2-3 TB sure it Costs us about 15 bux a month+ out internet bill. It also has FULL 256 bit SSL to their servers so our ISP can snoop all they want.... Now for torrents that's EASY just load the torrent and see who your getting it from write down/take a screenshot of that screen and now they have a record of others IP address that are shearing it. As I'm sure 90% of the readers here know that a judge ruled an IP address does not point to a person so really once you get a strike just tell them that you have an unsecured connection and your not responsible i mean come on this is so easy to dodge
Shhh Usenet is not for the masses.
Where was this law 11 years ago when Metallica sued Napster? Oh, that's right...it was election year and our president had his "IDGAF" hat on and George W. Bush was no help.
And this will only help VPN business and the like, resulting in higher parts of the Internet traffic ending up encrypted. With higher encrypted traffic it will also be that much harder for the gov to find what they really want, terrorist warnings and the like. If say 2-3% of the traffic is encrypted today and it will be 50-60% tomorrow, how much harder will it be to find what their looking for. Clever indeed!
Soon enough free completely anonymous share software will come out.
Next ISP's will come and snoop if you have an unsecured network and if they find one probably charge you more.
If at first you dont succeed, try five more times
Jeeze, did someone forget to audit the Federal Reserve? I guess we better not go there, Mr. Obama?!
Last time I looked, this administration seemed hell-bent on illegally sharing the US with Mexico, turning a blind eye to the illegal dripping of pockets through the Federal Reserve system, and last but by no means least, illegally sharing/destroying countries they have no right nor interest to be in beyond greed. But hey, don't you dare question them..and don't you dare share that file. We just haaaaaaaave to get our priorities right in this sinking ship of a nation..
Watch out, here comes Uncle Sam
IMO! Yep, the Uncle Sam they couldn't even find a bloody birth certificate for! This isn't our real Uncle Sam, it's a fraud, bought and paid for by the offshore interests who don't care whether Uncle Sam is left, right of center..all he has to do is fool enough people, enough of the time. Some people put far too much faith in the likes of Obama, and only now, as this ship sails head first into a storm, do they realise the error of their ways..when it's too late to repair the damage.
i wanna SEE them try and stop me. i don't pirate games, and pirating movies makes no sense because i have netflix and anything can be found on the web
but nobody will stop me from pirating music. i support the artist by telling other people how good their music is. what would they do without me?
Fact is this "ship" has been gaining water since Clinton left office so don't give me any of "this administration" crap. The fact of the matter is the President is a politician and is doing what is politically expedient (since the lobbiests have so much power). The fact of the matter is anybody can download torrents using peerblock, megaupload using routers, or even avoid downloading anything at all by just streaming the content through icefilms, after all, how can they really tell that you are streaming x movie from y company?
He has to protect the ones who paid for his campaign.... Hollywood, Oprah....
Very interesting.. People who tend to vote for Obama normally want something for nothing... Hes just going to piss off his voters.
... how this is not invading privacy, when they know what you are downloading?
It really is a invasion of privacy. No on should know what you do on the web that you pay for., especially companies that rip you off at every corner.
Ok, so I'm going to rape small children in the comfort and privacy of my own home. It's ok though, don't invade my privacy. The west also operates as a free market economy. Sell anything you like at any price. Its your choice if you buy it. Nobody is forcing you. Don't like it? Fk off to Communist-ville where you don't have a choice, i bet you will have something to bitch about then.
And don't tell me you aren't hurting anyone by pirating. It's stealing, it's immoral and illegal. It's one thing to do it, but don't bitch and moan when they try prevent you from being a thief.
Anyway...
Government and big business in bed together really gets me worried about future measures they could implement. After this it's just a few small steps to allow gov't agencies to legally monitor your internet traffic without due cause or warrant, next thing the RIAA et al is running these agencies, and you can bet they will be seeking maximum compensation for every single infraction... since they now have irrefutable evidence.
To be honest, this system does seem much better than going after random individuals for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
You guys are missing the point. It IS the job of government to enforce the law and taking another person's property without compensation IS illegal. Pretty it up and paint it however you want but it IS stealing and stealing IS illegal.
“The ISPs want to cooperate with Hollywood because the carriers recognize that their own growth depends in part on bundled content strategies,” said Eric Garland of BigChampagne, which tracks online media traffic. “They don’t want to be just utilities providing Internet access, but premium content distributors as well.”
Net neutrality be gone, tiered internet here we come.
But, I don't *want* "premium bundled content." I never watch television. I don't want U-verse. I don't care about sports. I just want to do my own thing without being part of someone else's business plan.
It's funny how many people are complaining.
Piracy, you can put it whichever way you like it, in the end it's still theft. If you want content, buy it. If you don't, then don't. If you find it too expensive, don't buy it. You're not meant to have everything in life.
If everyone was a pirate we'd have no content at all as there would be no incentive to create it.
Content creators have every right to protect themselves, and this system is quite generous considering what it was previously where people get sued for millions of dollars.
I'm sorry if you don't agree with this system. It's called a free market economy and it allows us to enjoy many of the "luxuries" other countries don't have. If you don't like, move.
It's funny how many people are complaining. Piracy, you can put it whichever way you like it, in the end it's still theft. If you want content, buy it. If you don't, then don't. If you find it too expensive, don't buy it. You're not meant to have everything in life.If everyone was a pirate we'd have no content at all as there would be no incentive to create it. Content creators have every right to protect themselves, and this system is quite generous considering what it was previously where people get sued for millions of dollars. I'm sorry if you don't agree with this system. It's called a free market economy and it allows us to enjoy many of the "luxuries" other countries don't have. If you don't like, move.
DUPLICATING something is not "taking" it, its simply making two items. If I don't pirate the game OR buy it, they get nothing ANYWAY! So its like a big demo, if I like the game I simply buy it.
Innocent until proven guilty.
The US constitution is no longer sacred... you might even be a twit to suggest it is a guideline to consult when passing laws.
Not even the ACLU can save you from this, they're only into suing for a profit when the constitution is breached.
just netflix and burn the dvd. it's 10$ a month and you have a substantial dvd collection in a few months.
It's funny how many people are complaining. Piracy, you can put it whichever way you like it, in the end it's still theft. If you want content, buy it. If you don't, then don't. If you find it too expensive, don't buy it. You're not meant to have everything in life.If everyone was a pirate we'd have no content at all as there would be no incentive to create it. Content creators have every right to protect themselves, and this system is quite generous considering what it was previously where people get sued for millions of dollars. I'm sorry if you don't agree with this system. It's called a free market economy and it allows us to enjoy many of the "luxuries" other countries don't have. If you don't like, move.
It's more complicated than that. Having the mentality of "it's the hidden cost of business" and then passing the cost onto consumers is loathsome enough. But now the likes of RIAA are bamboozling the tax payers into supporting their shoddy business models with illegal penalization practices.
Perhaps if Walmart started lobbying for the tax payers to cover the cost of store theft you might be less sympathetic? Or perhaps if you were suddenly responsible for stolen identity debts without any recourse because of shoddy corporate practices and lobbying you might have a change of heart?