"Six strikes" system goes live this fall, appeals to cost $35

[menotu]

Had to give a small chuckle when selecting the link in a blog post (below) a page appears saying Center for Copyright Information - Page not found
=============================
by Cyrus Farivar - Oct 18, 2012 - arstechnica

"Trained professionals and automated processes" will identify illegal downloads.

The Center for Copyright Information has revealed more details about its "six strikes" system, which it calls the Copyright Alert System (CAS). in a blog post  post published Thursday morning, the program’s head, Jill Lesser, announced that the CAS “will begin in the coming weeks.”

Lesser added that it will use an analysis system called MarkMonitor to identify infringing activity. That system “uses both trained professionals and automated processes to identify illegal downloading of whole movies, TV shows, and musical recordings, and the system is designed to eliminate false positives.” Finally, the CAS has given further details on its review process that will take place at the “mitigation stage” (strikes five through six), which will be administered by the American Arbitration Association.
No strikeout?

The launch date is consistent with what Lesser told Ars last month, when she said program would begin before the end of the year. (The original target for launch was December 2011.)

Lesser said that over the next two months, the five major ISPs funding the CAS—AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon—would ”begin rolling out" their versions of the alert system. Under the CAS, ISPs would pass infringement notices from copyright holders on to their subscribers.

She also underscored that “termination of a consumer’s Internet service is not part of any ISP’s Copyright Alert System program,” meaning that the CAS itself does not terminate anyone’s Internet connection, nor does it bring lawsuits. Rather, the ISPs and rightsholders themselves could take steps to do that themselves. “The program doesn’t in any way change the legal structure or the environment that’s out there,” Lesser told Ars on Thursday morning.

“Nothing in this program either affects, alters, or does anything to a copyright holder's ability to sue over copyright.”

 http://bit.ly/VahzZ1

[menotu]

by Joe Mullin - Nov 16, 2012 - arstechnica

How ISPs will do “six strikes”: Throttled speeds, blocked sites

Users will get several warnings before things start to break.

The "six strikes" anti-piracy program is on its way, for real. Jill Lesser, head of the Center for Copyright Information—the enforcement agency in charge of the system—confirmed that the system is coming this year in a September interview with Ars. Speaking at a New York Internet conference, representatives of two of the biggest ISPs, Verizon and Time Warner, have finally described how their systems will work.

Despite the "six strikes" moniker, both Verizon and Time Warner talked about systems that work in three essential phases.

First comes the "notice" phase, which simply involves letting users know they've been tracked on copyright-infringing sites. Verizon customers, for example, will send notifications to primary account holders via both e-mail and telephone. "We send a notice to the customer, saying there's been an allegation [of] illegal activity with copyrighted files," said Verizon VP Link Hoewing.

Next is the "acknowledgement" phase. This is when the customer will have to actually acknowledge having received those notices. Hoewing said his company's customers will experience this as a pop-up window. The idea here is to make extra sure they're getting to the right people. In a house or apartment with a shared Internet connection, he noted, five people may be using the same account, with just one person—likely not the account holder—engaged in copyright infringement.

Finally, there's the "mitigation" phase. This is when users who have traded copyrighted files are actually punished, and Time Warner and Verizon take different tacks here. Verizon users will have their speeds throttled for between two and three days, said Hoewing. And even then, they'll have the right to appeal the case, which will be handled by an independent arbitration firm, he said. (The user will have to pay a $35 filing fee for the appeal.) Before the speed reduction begins, subscribers will be given a 14-day advance notice.

....................

The target of "six strikes" is the casual copyright infringer, not dedicated pirates. At one point, moderator Declan McCullagh of CNET asked how the content owners and ISPs would deal with customers who might use a system like TOR to hide their identity. "Will this just push determined pirates into a darker area of the Internet?" he asked. "Will you just catch the loser ones, who aren't that smart?"

Other ISPs may be participating soon. A Cox spokesperson told TorrentFreak, which first reported on the conference, that it was invited to participate but decided not to, for now.

http://ars.to/Xh0y63

[joechimp]

Little by little the sands of time erode what freedoms we have left on the internet.

[Xenaflux]

Little by little the sands of time erode what freedoms we have left on the internet.

Maybe in the US, but not here. 

[jaydot]

similar has been mooted here.  it won't fly.

[joechimp]

Well, then you are the lucky ones.

[Bald Brick]

In the good old days a few decades ago I could copy whatever I wanted quite legally. That was not the concern of any author or publisher.

But I couldn't redistribute what I had copied. That was the copyright-owners' prerogative.

And actually I could have redistributed a lot of copyrighted American works anyway: the US (together with China and the Soviet Union) where very late to the party when it came to ratifying the Berne Convention, which is what made distribution of works created in other countries illegal. In the US the Berne Convention was only ratified in 1989.

After that some US corporations became the treaty's staunchest guard dogs. And now these corporations try to tell me that I can't copy or download almost anything for my own use either?

In many places they will win if they take me to court; in some places they won't. But the main concern here is: how they will know? Without infringing on my fundamental privacy rights?

They won't.

Of course there are quite good reasons why an author should have exclusive rights to commercial distribution of his own works.

But over my downloading or copying them for my own use? (Even if I give a copy to a friend?) Ridiculous

[Just17]

Next is the "acknowledgement" phase. This is when the customer will have to actually acknowledge having received those notices. Hoewing said his company's customers will experience this as a pop-up window. The idea here is to make extra sure they're getting to the right people. In a house or apartment with a shared Internet connection, he noted, five people may be using the same account, with just one person—likely not the account holder—engaged in copyright infringement.

I wonder how this will be managed?

Anybody?

[jaydot]

quite.  it's a nonsense.  it's not the duty of government to prop up failing businesses, even though they do.  copyright is a civil matter and should not be dealt with in the criminal domain.  these people are confused.

[Wildman]

quite.  it's a nonsense.  it's not the duty of government to prop up failing businesses, even though they do.  copyright is a civil matter and should not be dealt with in the criminal domain.  these people are confused.

To put it very mildly! Keep on it will be a criminal act to use the bathroom without prior permission here....

[ppiklapp]

They have a couple of times tried to push legislation here in the US about limiting you ability to resell things.  Imagine that you buy a new tv and the government tells you you can throw the old one out, but you cannot sell it or give it away.  You can purchase a new coffee maker, but you cannot sell or give the old one away.  If you are caught reselling something you have bought, then hefty fines and possible jail time for you.  The arguments have gotten heated over how long before you can have the right to sell or give away something you bought.  A year for a vehicle, ten for a computer, and maybe five on an appliance.