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If You See This Copyright Alert — and Ignore It — Your Internet Might Be Slowed Down as Punishment

Feb. 28, 2013 10:24am Liz Klimas

Earlier this week, the nation’s five largest Internet service providers joined with two major entertainment industry associations to launch the Copyright Alert System, in an effort to better thwart illegal content sharing.

The system consists of a series of warnings that ultimately, if ignored, might result in slower Internet service for the violator for 48 hours. What such warnings look like were posted by Ars Technica Wednesday.

Copyright Alert System Messages Revealed

(Image: Ars Technica)

The Copyright Alert System was put into effect this week by Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cablevision, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America.

It is the first time since a spate of aggressive and unpopular lawsuits almost a decade ago that the music and movie industries are going after Internet users they accuse of swapping copyrighted files online. But unlike the lawsuits from the mid-2000s – which swept up everyone from young kids to the elderly with sometimes ruinous financial penalties and court costs – the latest effort is aimed at educating casual Internet pirates and convincing them to stop. There are multiple chances to make amends and no immediate legal consequences under the program if they don’t.

“There’s a bunch of questions that need to be answered because there are ways that this could end up causing problems for Internet users,” such as the bureaucratic headache of being falsely accused, David Sohn, general counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based civil liberties group, said according to the Associated Press. But he added: “There’s also the potential for this to have an impact in reducing piracy in ways that don’t carry a lot of collateral damage.”

Under the new program, the industry will monitor “peer-to-peer” software services for evidence of copyrighted files being shared. Each complaint will prompt a customer’s Internet provider to notify the customer that their Internet address has been detected sharing files illegally. Depending on the service provider, the first couple of alerts will likely be an email warning. Subsequent alerts might require a person to acknowledge receipt or review educational materials. If a final warning is ignored, a person could be subject to speed-throttling for 48 hours or another similar “mitigation measure.”

(Image: Ars Technica)

After five or six “strikes,” however, the person won’t face any repercussions under the program and is likely to be ignored. It’s unclear whether such repeat offenders would be more likely at that point to face an expensive lawsuit. While proponents say it’s not the intention of the program, it’s possible the alert system will be used to initiate lawsuits.

A primary question is whether the system will generate a significant number of “false positives,” or cases in which people are accused of sharing illegal content but aren’t. One scenario is if a person doesn’t encrypt their wireless connection, leaving it open to a neighbor or malicious hacker that swaps illegal files. Another example might be if a person uploads a “mashup” of songs or brief scenes from a movie – content that wouldn’t necessarily violate the law but could get flagged by the system.

The Center for Copyright Information, which created the alert system, said on its website that before an alert is sent, “a rigorous process ensures the content identified is definitely protected by copyright and that the notice is forwarded to the right Subscriber.” According to the Associated Press, the system will rely on humans to review the entire content of every file to make sure it qualifies as material protected under copyright laws.

If you’re wondering how content owners know you’ve infringed on their copyrights, CCI wrote that the companies that own the music, movies and TV shows join peer-to-peer networks that allow them to locate such content through keyword searches.

“Once they see a title being made available on the peer-to-peer network, they confirm that it is, in fact, copyrighted content,” CCI stated.

This video from CCI explains how it works:

If someone receives an alert they believe was in error, they can go through the Independent Review Process, which is run by the American Arbitration Association.

Another problem with the alerts, besides the potential for false accusations, that Ars Technica pointed out is what if the person never receives the alerts. Ars Technica noted that the pop-up alerts refer to a comcast.net e-mail address.

“That could suggest that if a Comcast user maintains a constant VPN connection, and doesn’t check his or her Comcast e-mail account, she could plausibly say that she never received any alerts,” Cyrus Farivar wrote for Ars Technica.

Read more about the potential flaws in the system from Ars Technica here.

–

Related:

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(H/T: Gizmodo)

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Comments (65)

GuruMeditation
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 4:18pm
Comcast is dirty. Find another solution.

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- shift
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 5:59pm
  So I guess that we are all just relying on these content owners to report accurate information, since they are just dealing with ip addresses how easy is it to get a number screwed up and then all of a sudden you are turning in innocent people. This is not justice nor is it a smart way to prevent pirating.
  
  Report this comment
- Don
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:24pm
  I said it before in another post folks GIT RID OF COMCAST. I mean come on whats it gonna take? First they refuse to air advertisements that sell guns now THIS?? Cya Comcast!!
  
  Report this comment
- BigSky
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 6:09am
  It’s not just Comcast, there’s about a dozen or so large ISP’s that have joined this effort. The number of smaller providers is unknown.
  
  Report this comment
child of God
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 2:52pm
I guess it’s a good thing I don’t use torrents anymore.

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skunk
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 2:31pm
Who uses P2P today. Bittorrent is secure enough.

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- PutGodBackInAmerica
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 4:46pm
  BitTorrent is a protocol that supports the practice of peer-to-peer file sharing
  As in P2P
  
  Report this comment
hslusher
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 1:01pm
When people refuse to police themselves then the government will. I hate when this happens because our moral values are gone.

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- ArchaicSEAL
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 2:09pm
  They will be using deep packet scans to identify whether you are torrenting or not. If they find that you are using p2p (torrents) they will send you the warning. There is really no way to know exactly what file you are downloading and whether it is copyrighted or not. This is an out and out attack on torrenting. But that’s fine… if you get the warning, just pickup a 6 dollar a month torrent vpn and you are good. Something like BTGuard. I feel sorry for the folks who have their wireless connection hijacked by neighbors who are using to download torrents, they will get the message and have NO CLUE what it’s all about.
  
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Sayre
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 12:21pm
The first file sharing device I ever used was the telephone… Call a friend and say “Hay listen to this new record I got..” Then came the first cassette recorders built into a radio and I could mail that tape to a friend… There is a point where the greed factor gets a bit silly… What’s next? How about my shoe store going to tell me where I can wear the shoes? How about the oil company telling me where I can drive if I buy their gas? Or the Democratic Party telling me what health care I can have if I’m foolish enough to vote for them. The only thing worse than a tyrant, is a greedy tyrant.

Hay Hollywood… haven’t you ever heard that “Imitation is the best form of flattery?”

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- Max jones
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 1:53pm
  Intellectual property is only valuable ……when its valuable…..? We’ve all got proprietary intellectual property out on the web….even if its only comments on a site like this one.
  Don’t ‘quote’ anybody’s comment, without footnotes and verification of permission….
  
  Report this comment
chips1
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 12:10pm
My neighborhood has printed a list of music and movies that can be borrowed by all of us. It’s free and sometimes we gather to show a new film that has been added to the list. Makes for a close knit group.

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KickinBack
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:50am
Read the article people. It’s p2p networks that will be monitored. Any yahoo can discern what is legal/illegal on those networks. Afraid to d/l your *free* music/movies?? Then try this nifty idea…GO TO THE STORE AND BUY IT!!!!

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- sta
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 7:21am
  I can’t buy some of what I watch. I don’t download but I do watch a show called Gaki no Tsuaki from Japan. They don’t sell DVDs with subtitles and stream it. There is a group of people who volunteer to sub it for English speakers. That would be under this alert.
  If I can buy it, I do.
  
  Report this comment
TheIggies
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:43am
BTGuard. Get it.

For around 15 bucks a month you get 100% complete anonymous internet browsing and email. It redirects your IP address and information through different proxies (doorways) and makes it impossible to track where you’re actual location is.

Worth the price to be 100% anonymous.

Even if it’s just so I can troll all you.

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- Max jones
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 1:57pm
  Especially nice if you cower in fear at being identified……….Huh?…’.IGGIES……
  
  Report this comment
- K Chad Roberts
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 2:11pm
  Your internet service provider can see everything you’re doing regardless. For this particular process of copyright protection, IP proxying does work, but other more comprehensive processes will see right through it. Your anonymity is not secure if you’re paying for your internet, sorry… It’s also surprisingly easy to see through a proxy if you happen to get someones attention. Once again, sorry, but you are not truly anonymous.
  
  To be truly anonymous, you would have to tap into the internet without registering your physical location. In most cases, this is illegal, but in some cases this can be done without any legal recourse even if you’re caught. Even through this method, a persistent group could still find you through node transfer tracking… but they would have to physically follow the trail.
  
  Report this comment
- PutGodBackInAmerica
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 5:03pm
  The better VPN services encrypt all traffic so deepscan is worthless to the Mafia/ISP. However you can not hide that traffic going to the VPN so if they report you you are still on the hook. But VPN is best option just choose wisely.
  
  Report this comment
WakeUp
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:32am
Because the entertainment industry is far left, it is ok to go after people that are doing nothing wrong in order to protect the industries income. Ironic that they will trample on people’s right to the assumption of innocence in order to aggressively profit from the capitalist system they try to destroy for everyone else.

But then again, Soros, Oprah, Heinz-Kerry, the Kennedys’, Bloomberg, and all the other mega billionaires do the same.

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- jcldwl
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:37am
  Only place left with any privacy is the privey and I don’t even know how long that will last.
  
  Report this comment
- fullmetal
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 3:45pm
  Intellectual property rights is key to a successful capitalistic economy, as it provides inventors the ability to receive monetary compensation for their hard work in coming up with inventions, which can be music, movies, software, electronics, engines, etc… Without compensation, invention is stifled which, in turn, stifles the economy. DRM (Data Rights Management) is a way to either force people to pay for their use of intellectual property, or to detect their use in order to retrieve compensation. If people didn’t think they deserved free stuff, none of this stuff would happen. From a political perspective, I see more democrats thinking they deserve free stuff than fiscal conservatives.
  
  Report this comment
- Cronpolis
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:25pm
  This is Obama’s payback to the Progressive left leaning Hollywood. If they make more money then they can donate more money to Left leaning democrats. Oh and they will pay more in taxes. YAY! double win for the government!
  
  Report this comment
yo123456
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:32am
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-cas-copyright-alert-system/KjBZN4mV

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- ExLawman
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 5:58pm
  Who is stupid enough to give wh.gov any personal info?
  
  Report this comment
KickinBack
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:29am
I guess the Blaze trolls will be posting at a much slower rate now.

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Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:26am
If I see a Comcast Warning.That means I am using a Communist Friendly Internet service. I would give up internet first.
The Government has been busy snooping in Google Mail accounts as well. Big Obama is watching you!

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Live_Free_orDie
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:24am
I’m thinking about unplugging. I don’t DL any entertainment…no not even porn. All I see is crap on the internet and cable (Piers Morgan, Piglosi, Diane Skankenstein et,al). I get more spam including penis enlargement e-mails (how do they know that…probably my ex-wife) than I get from USPS in my mailbox. And…I could save a ton of money!

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- wilbstal
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:29am
  Diane, Communist Stein, ugly face stein
  
  Report this comment
- objectivetruth
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:39am
  Yeah they just keep shooting themselves in the foot don’t they,.I guess we should be grateful a human reviews it.I always wondered if the last round of their lawsuits were the result of a computer program looking for sequences rather than a human.
  As to junk mail.I have been rather blesssed at being able to stop most of it.Make use of your isp functions if they provide one.You also might want to look at a program called spam cop.I haven’t used it but a couple of friends have and swear by it.You also can trace back the headers although it isn’t always possible.Many times if you can find the parent company you can stop the junk mail.The problem is most people go to the unsubscribe in the mail.It is worse than useless.
  If you use a email program set your own filters up.Thats how I caught one that annoyed the crap out of me.Haven’t been bothered by them since.Use a disposable email for newsletters is another trick.Actually thinking long and hard whether you really want to subscribe in the first place can also help.
  True spam is harder as they forge the headers.See if you can get the name or ip address and block it both in IE and in your mail program.
  
  Report this comment
woodyee
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:13am
CHHALL3 suggests using easyhideIP. Another one of our friends suggested using DNT (DoNotTrackme), and I’ve been using it ever since (the Blaze has 3 social networks and 9 companies trying to see me right now).

I support DNT with Ixquick search engine (Google is a monster). I just might add easyhideIP – is that overkill?

COLASCGUY adds that we should learn how to add encryption to our emails…hmm…something I never thought about until now…any suggestions?

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- ECtech
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 3:18am
  You can’t hide your IP address from your ISP if you are connected to them. Torrent programs do show IP addresses of those connected. The only way around that is to use a proxy server and the free ones probably don’t have much bandwidth available.
  
  You can probably encrypt your email. I don’t know if PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is still around, but I’m sure there are some newer email encryption programs out there.
  
  Report this comment
- sta
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 7:28am
  I use IXquick for anything important but also make sure that I use Bing for the kid’s stuff. This way I have a footprint. Call me crazy, but I suspect that at one point if you don’t have a Bing or Google footprint, someone will flag you.
  
  Report this comment
BLAZE-READER1
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:08am
“According to the Associated Press, the system will rely on humans to review the entire content of every file to make sure it qualifies as material protected under copyright laws.”

So there will be this group of “humans” reviewing every file people download? Something don’t sound right about that…

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- desertspeaks
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:17am
  check for copyrighted files? how does one discern from an innocuous file and a copyrighted file if one doesn’t open it?? and if someone opens a file, is that not an invasion of privacy? So the 4th amendment is now going to be trashed in the search for copyrighted files??
  does not the alleged OWNER of a copyrighted file first have to make a charge?
  This is akin to walking through the front door of EVERYONE’S HOME and rifling through their belongings to see if you have something that MIGHT be copyrighted!!
  It’s unconstitutional, intrusive, illegal and morally corrupt!
  I SMELL LAW SUIT!
  
  Report this comment
- objectivetruth
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:49am
  I almost can’t wait for them to hit private files of those located in VA.Our copywrite law will nail them not the rightful owner.Its considered that any work created by you is covered by personal copywrite.If they attempt to freeze you out lawsuit.Attempt to claim it as theirs lawsuit.Attempt to claim they purchased it without the owners knowledge lawsuit.Attempt to claim it as abandonded without proof.lawsuit.They have already been caught before illegally invading peoples computers.Its one of the reasons they are using this approach.Good thing too.Its easier and fairer for all concerned.It also prevents them from getting a computer intrusion charge.
  
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WhatsUp
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:03am
It’s like a “smart meter” for the internet!!!

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colascguy
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:56am
Simply Google VyperVPN it will encrypt all of your data (it will at least cause your isp more work to figure out what you are doing). Also learn how to apply an encryption certificate to your email. Everyone and their brother can see your email as it travels the internet.

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- AlcoholicMB
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:08am
  Good advice, VPN services and dynamic IP programs are a good counter to this crackdown (which I think is totally illegal, or should be).
  
  Report this comment
- Bullitt2008
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:21am
  Looked it up, thanks COLASCGUY. I’m not a “computer guy” so I have never seen this service. Don’t do P2P and such, but will keep it in mind for any future needs. Do use TrueCrypt on the computers and have Iron Key in my safe for my So Cal earthquake bug-out bag.
  
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- colascguy
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 3:05pm
  Email encryption uses public private key technology. You need to have an email client that supports it such as the full Microsoft outlook. Use the Outlook help and search for encrypt. Both parties have to be using encryption for this to be effective. You also have to exchange keys prior to encrypting email. Google FBI Carnivore this dates back to 2005 but it will probably be an eye opener for some.
  
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Atrocities
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:54am
You get this warning regardless of what you are file sharing. If you use P2P to share large images, game files, mods, videos (you own), you’ll get this warning. Its frustrating to get a warning for using a P2P program when you aren’t using it to obtain copyrighted materials. To me this is nothing more than a shot gun approach to the problem of piracy. A lot of innocent people are going to get hit by the over blast.

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- KickinBack
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 1:21pm
  “the system will rely on humans to review *the entire content of every file* to make sure it qualifies as material protected under copyright laws.”
  
  example: If you d/l a torrent titled “Bob’s music picks,” they review the content of the folder to see if it contains copyrighted material, or if it’s just Bob and his banjo. If you don’t know what’s in the file, (and it’s really easy to tell) then don’t d/l it.
  
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mutha_scratcha
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:53am
I don’t see frontier on the list. Good Times.
That and private trackers, and peerblocker.

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- BigSky
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 6:14am
  Yeah, but if you’re downloading from someone who is on an ISP that is marked (like Comcast), you will be tracked down.
  
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marybethelizabeth
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:51am
Another plank in the conservative’s foundation to privatize law enforcement is hammered into place.

Corporate rule over every aspect of a person’s life is about complete.
Since corporations are eternal beings created by man, has America created a god unto itself?

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AbrahamsSheepdog
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:49am
They eat away freedom for temporary power and fame. Try to rule every aspect of life and tax it to death step over body to the next. Our government is madness on drugs. A monster.

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- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:56am
  This is indeed governing, but not by elected representatives.
  
  This is not a government program.
  
  Mr. Beck opposed net neutrality. This is part of the agenda that the net neutrality movement is fighting.
  
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DougHuffman
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:37am
https://www.eff.org/ Home Electronic Frontier Foundation Defending your rights in the digital world

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lawrench
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:32am
One has to wonder if these “Artist” did not charge so much money for their “Art”, would there be a copyright infringement issue? I think when Apple came out with iTunes and sold songs for 99 cents, piracy dropped drastically.

Lets face it, what this means is that people in the Entertainment Industry are seeing thier profits shrink and are wanting a captive audience to pay what the Entertainment says people should pay. One only has to look to the increasing price to go to the theater to see a movie. Good luck getting out of there for under $50. The cost of entertainment has skyrocketed to unbelievable heights.

I am not saying copyright infringement or piracy is good, but didn’t the entertainment industry bring this on themselves?

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- Xiccarph
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:46am
  The artists themselves receive pennies on the dollar for their “copyrighted” materials.The real money that’s being “lost’ is the huge hunk that goes to the studios/record companies, corporate lawyers, and other “non-performers”. If the artists really “owned” what they created, they could sell a song for 15-cents and still make much more than the dribblings received from the copyright holding studios. The RIAA and similar organizations are like unions, they run up 10-fold the cost of something, while raking in 95% of the money involved as theirs.
  
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- smokie
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 1:28pm
  If I like their work, I buy it. Don’t have a lot of movies, but do have a lot of music. On CDs. If I want more from the artist, I buy their product to help finance future endeavors. The only time I’ve gone to the movie house in over ten years was to see Atlas Shrugged and The Avengers.
  Look at the stuff being pirated on a super level, these are files being put up by individuals. Most of the product being shared is of a left leaning bent. Liberals pirate more than conservatives, liberals share more pirated material than conservatives.
  I do see the concern of indicative human censors perusing the net in hopes of finding a victim to harass, and I am concerned over the possibility of mistakes occuring to the average joe, but in the long run, it’s going to affect the cellar dwellers more than it will ever affect me.
  
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Timberline
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:32am
another good reason to use anonymous proxy

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- CHHALL3
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:49am
  Yes, using something like easyhideIP will be the solution to prevent IP tracking back to your home, internet’s version of a 3D printer to make weapons.
  
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- sta
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 7:22am
  Would Ghostery work?
  
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Cavallo
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:29am
I wonder if there are quality ISPs that don’t spy on you?

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- christianUSA
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 5:04am
  Opinion: How can any communication companies do this without spying on all customer persons by monitoring everything they communicate in violation of privacy laws and constitutional rights?
  Does this not give communication companies there by every corporation wrapped legal permission to spy monitor on US? Since then we would have no expectation of privacy does this not open the door wide to any law enforcement to use anything, even out of context, for criminal prosecution without a judge issued warrant? Could such untrialed computer generated judgment of guilt, of possession of illegally attain intellectual property etc, be used to as excuse to search the home or else where on fishing or bulling reasons? How do you confront a secret unseen high tech program errors? Once such is in the system it norm to be very hard to root out electronic guilt from your copy records spend to hundreds to companies; Does this not put your internet and communication companies working against you to spy on you and judge you for many other parties? None can serve even 2 masters but they have many, other companies, government and you a customer; which will win the Biggest master? Remote computer punish US that is very scary high tech 1984!
  
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