Community | June 24, 2011 | 10 comments

Big Brother turns out to not be Government but America's Largest Phone Companies

source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/230954/isps_may_join_fight_against_piracy.html

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BKsaysAction
Right on the heels of a rash of copyright lawsuits, comes the news that your Internet Service Provider may soon become an attack dog for the film and recording industry, according to an online report. Major U.S. ISPs including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon are reportedly close to an agreement with the entertainment industry to monitor how you use your Internet connection and punish you if you step out of line. The plan, which has not been finalized, calls for a "graduated response" to stop users from pirating video, music and other copyrighted content. Punishments can include bandwidth throttling and restricted Web access, according to CNET.

Here's how the plan would work: rights holders keep an eye out for copyright material being traded over peer-to-peer file sharing such as BitTorrent. The companies would then identify the pirates trading the material (presumably by IP address), and alert the ISP about the scallywag sailing their digital shores. The ISP would then send you a notice called a Copyright Alert, CNET says, warning you about your actions.

Reeducation camp

If you fail to heed the warning (and any potential subsequent warnings) you would then be subject to restrictions on your Internet service, as mentioned above, until you stop trading in copyrighted files. If that wasn't bad enough, the ISP could even go so far as to ask you to participate in a program that educates you on "copyright law and the rights of copyright holders."

There's no word on what the process would be for reintegration after you complete copyright reeducation camp. But I'm guessing your ISP restrictions won't be lifted until you declare your love for Big Brother and the Party.
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10 comments // Big Brother turns out to not be Government but America's Largest Phone Companies

  • penrod13
    • 0
      penrod13  

    • I agree with Warren. Theft is theft. This is not government coming down though, this is business coming down. They want their effin money and you jerks aren't giving it to them. I jest of course, except for the first part. And everything that followed it. So I say yes, crack down on theft. The smart people will go dark and leave no footprints, its those poor hapless 13 year olds who will get caught cause they just aren't doing it right.

    • 11 months ago
  • Warren_Merrill
    • 0
      Warren_Merrill  

    • Why should anyone be able to steal a product created by an artist via the internet?

      "If you fail to heed the warning (and any potential subsequent warnings) you would then be subject to restrictions on your Internet service, as mentioned above, until you stop trading in copyrighted files."

      Fail to heed the warning should result in arrest. Stealing music and movies via the internet isn't any different than walking into a store and stealing them.

    • 11 months ago
  • Gillian_Marktoo
    • 0
      Gillian_Marktoo  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      actually - it is different. In a store, the store owner pays for the object in question and pays for all sorts of resources to secure it and sell it, such as; monthly electricity bill, worker salaries, etc.... But with file sharing, there was no product that had the associated costs of P.O.S. as you have with a traditional store theft. So by definition of what has been stolen, it's the object w/out any printing costs, packaging costs, P.O.S. costs. It is not equal, it is less than.

    • 11 months ago
  • BKsaysAction
    • 0
      BKsaysAction  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      A major reason why I have used bittorrents is the fact that I have no way of affording some ridiculous cable package with a thousand channels I don't want just so i can watch some bbc and hbo tv shows.

      Now if there was a way to be able to watch those said shows online without having to buy some huge channel package, I would pay for it and not bittorrent. I only use it for stuff I do not have Access to.

      It's not the downloaders fault it's the industry failing to adapt to their consumers. So now they're going punish the consumer? That is pathetic and greedy.

    • 11 months ago
  • Warren_Merrill
  • Warren_Merrill
    • 0
      Warren_Merrill  
    • BKsaysAction:

      Many shows are legally free or can be purchased by the show from iTunes, Amazon or some other sources. You're blaming the producer of the product or the organization with the distribution rights for not giving it away. It's usually the shows on pay television that are not free. There's a reason for it. You're stealing.

    • 11 months ago
  • BKsaysAction
    • 0
      BKsaysAction  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      If HBO started an online subscription that I pay 9 bucks a month for for online streaming. I'd do it in a heartbeat. But companies like comcast and verizon would never allow that. So because of that I have to wait a year untill the dvd comes out or netflix gets it? Also not all tv shows are on itunes. I'm not saying to give it away i'm saying to make it available.

    • 11 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
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