New "Six Strike" Internet Rules for Media Pirates

Image from source, Digital Trends

I, along with many people, dabbled in media piracy many years ago. Napster was the big thing, and it didn't seem like stealing. I mean, the public service announcements would say, "you wouldn't steal a car, would you?" No, but if I could burn a copy. . . Of course, I didn't sell anything. The closest I came to distribution was to make the occasional party CD when going to a friend's house for a barbecue or something. And the sound levels and transitions between tracks were always wonky.

But Napster died, and so did my fledgling piracy career. Nowadays, all of the music I have is legal, though I've ripped every song from my CDs onto my computer to be able to put it on my phone, my iPod, and MP3 CDs for my car. I don't know if that counts or not.  In any event, I never progressed to bit torrents, or downloading movies or TV shows from illegitimate sources. Why would I? I've got the full OnDemand thingy on my cable, Netflix, and two bookshelves full of DVDs. Add that to YouTube, Hulu, HBOGo, and all of the other things available via the internet and my Blu-ray player, and I'm on video overload.

But you can't stop kids (and kid like adults) from dabbling in the margins. It's sexy to be bad. But now, the internet providers are on to them, and they've got the backing of the media industries and the government. Which worries me a little. I've got to think there are going to be "false positives." And this means the service providers have to be watching what you're looking at. ALL the time. Ever watch X-tube? Now they'll know. And how do you know if everything you're watching is legit? I see some problems with this.

[Excerpt]

Consumers who download illegal music or movies may soon lose Internet speed if they don't pay attention to new warnings from their Internet providers.

In a move supported by movie studios, record labels and the Obama administration, Internet providers have banded together to form a universal policy that imposes penalties on illegal downloads. The system allows for six strikes on an account with warning levels. The process starts with emails that require acknowledgement from the account holder. If the warnings are completely ignored, the final strikes result in decreasing Internet speed and eventually a block on all Web browsing. The system also offers a dispute process for anyone who disagrees with the warnings at the cost of a $35 filing fee. . .

Read more at: Digital Trends