A landmark agreement between U.S.-based internet service providers, the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America plans to issue "copyright alerts" to suspected media pirates that may result in slower connection speeds for the accused, among other anti-theft measures.
As Variety reports, record labels and film studios have teamed up with AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon to counter consumer piracy in the U.S. A conference call with the media revealed that the companies will be rolling out a voluntary measure wherein ISPs will send out notifications to suspected media thieves.
The agreement explains that copyright holders are responsible for reporting infringements. Once an ISP gets a hold of the information, it will send a notice to the offenders explaining that their account has been used to distribute or download content illegally.
If the consumer continues the dubious activities, he or she will receive pop-up notices warning about their actions. Other so called "mitigation measures" involve "temporary reductions in internet speeds, redirection to a landing page until the subscriber contacts the ISP to discuss the problem or responds to some educational information about copyright," Variety reports.
Anyone that feels they're being unfairly targeted can challenge the accusations or have an independent body review their case file.
The agreement sees labels moving away from suing consumers, but that option still hangs in the air.
While the measures taken by the RIAA, MPAA and ISPs don't affect Canadian downloaders, per se, this could be seen as chilling sign of things to come.
As Variety reports, record labels and film studios have teamed up with AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon to counter consumer piracy in the U.S. A conference call with the media revealed that the companies will be rolling out a voluntary measure wherein ISPs will send out notifications to suspected media thieves.
The agreement explains that copyright holders are responsible for reporting infringements. Once an ISP gets a hold of the information, it will send a notice to the offenders explaining that their account has been used to distribute or download content illegally.
If the consumer continues the dubious activities, he or she will receive pop-up notices warning about their actions. Other so called "mitigation measures" involve "temporary reductions in internet speeds, redirection to a landing page until the subscriber contacts the ISP to discuss the problem or responds to some educational information about copyright," Variety reports.
Anyone that feels they're being unfairly targeted can challenge the accusations or have an independent body review their case file.
The agreement sees labels moving away from suing consumers, but that option still hangs in the air.
While the measures taken by the RIAA, MPAA and ISPs don't affect Canadian downloaders, per se, this could be seen as chilling sign of things to come.
