[twitter style=”vertical” float=”left”] [fbshare type=”button”] [google_plusone size=”standard” annotation=”none” language=”English (UK)”] In a meeting held in New York last week, Cary Sherman, CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, said to a gathering of US publishers that ISPs are ready to start policing copyrights by July 1st.
Comcast, Cablevision, Verizon, Time Warner Cable and other bandwidth providers are implementing an antipiracy program on their infrastructure, so it will automatically detect those files that infringe copyrights laws, and of course will keep track of the users “trafficking” these files. This could become a reality in less than five months.
Sherman said to CNET “Each ISP has to develop their infrastructure for automating the system for establishing the database, so they can keep track of repeat infringers, so they know that this is the first notice or the third notice. Every ISP has to do it differently depending on the architecture of its particular network. Some are nearing completion and others are a little further from completion.”
So, if you were thinking about entering the IP address covering/hiding business, this is the time to start.
Meanwhile, some are wondering if this collusion constitutes an antitrust violation:
After all, you have the representatives of two major industries getting together in a room to collude on a plan that will make internet access more expensive for users.
On top of that, since it’s based on mere accusations (not convictions) – and those accusations will come from a company with a terrible track record for accuracy – you’ll have to pay to challenge a strike…
Not only does the plan involve collusion among multiple big industries, but at the outset it assumes guilt before innocence, makes you pay to claim you’re innocent, and won’t even let you use basic defenses afforded to you under existing copyright law.
