Downloading Illegal Torrent Files in America, You Are in Big Trouble

Starting early 2013, the 6-strikes anti-piracy law will be launched in the U.S. by the Center for Copyright Information (CCI). Actually the law could have been available this year but Hurricane Sandy seriously affected their final testing schedules.

CCI Executive Director Jill Lesser said that the Copyright Alert System will have to be delayed until early part of 2013. The CCI is run with help from board members of MPAA and RIAA, and internet service providers like AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner Cable are also participating. Their goal is to educate and act on illegally download of intellectual content, including videos, games, and music.

Our goal has always been to implement the program in a manner that educates consumers about copyright and peer-to-peer networks, encourages the use of legal alternatives, safeguards customer privacy, and provides an easy-to-use independent review program for consumers to challenge alerts they believe they’ve received in error.

He explained that the 6-strikes anti-piracy law is basically a program that will send out a series of educational alerts to violating Internet subscribers. The CCI hasn’t shown out details on how the system will work. However, from some leaked documents, here are how it will work in practice:

• The MPAA and RIAA will check IP addresses engaged in illegal BitTorrent or peer-to-peer downloading and the IPs will be sent to the ISP.
• ISPs will send the first 2 alerts, which are educational messages, to alleged copyright offending people.
• If those people continue offending, they could receive another third and fourth alert. This time, the message is a pop-up window, a read receipt or a landing page to ensure the subscribers aware of the violation.
• The last two alerts are where they start taking action. The ISPs could temporarily slow down your Internet connection, or suspend the service until subscribers contact to discuss the matter. The suspension is not mandate and it could vary on different ISPs. Subscribers will be able to appeal if they think the piracy alerts are incorrect.

Further, we are not sure what they will do next after the sixth alert. That could be a worse punishment or probably the program is not designed for lawsuits, just an educational program to raise awareness from people like they said. Still, the program will affect just unskilled pirate as many people can avoid by using TOR and VPN services.

Another problem of this program is that it is very difficult to manage. What happen if people download illegal content with shared Internet connection, for example, at library, bookstore, dorm, airport, hotel or coffee shop? If they really punish violators, no one will want to beam free Internet in these places anymore. We will see what CCI plans to do when they lay down details on the table.

What is your point about the program? Do you think they are violating our privacy?