Internet service providers to act against online piracy by reducing bandwidth

[Tiffanys]

LOS ANGELES Thu Jul 7, 2011 6:07pm EDT

(Reuters) - Consumers who illegally download copyrighted films, music or television shows might see their Internet speed slowed or access restricted under an industry anti-piracy effort announced on Thursday.

U.S. Internet service providers, including Verizon Communications Inc, Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc, Cablevision Systems Corp and AT&T Inc agreed to alert customers, up to six times, when it appears their account is used for illegal downloading. Warnings will come as e-mails or pop-up messages.

If suspected illegal activity persists, the provider might temporarily slow Internet speed or redirect the browser to a specific Web page until the customer contacts the company. The user can seek an independent review of whether they acted legally.

Internet access will not be terminated, according to a statement from the industry partners behind the effort. The coalition includes groups representing movie studios, independent film makers and record labels.

The group argues that content piracy costs the U.S. economy more than 373,000 jobs, $16 billion in lost earnings and $3 billion in tax revenue each year.

Industry officials said they thought most people would stop copyright violations once they were warned about illegal activity. The warnings also might alert parents unaware of their children's activity.

"We are confident that, once informed that content theft is taking place on their accounts, the great majority of broadband subscribers will take steps to stop it," James Assey, executive vice president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, said in a statement.

Two consumer groups said the effort had the "potential to be an important educational vehicle" to help reduce online copyright infringement, but voiced concern about the sanctions.

"We are particularly disappointed that the agreement lists Internet account suspension among the possible remedies," the Center for Democracy & Technology and Public Knowledge said in a statement.

The groups said it would be "wrong for any (Internet service provider) to cut off subscribers, even temporarily, based on allegations that have not been tested in court."

The Obama administration welcomed the industry effort.

"We believe it will have a significant impact on reducing online piracy," Victoria Espinel, the U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator, wrote on the White House blog.

The administration expects the organization that implements the program to consult with advocacy groups "to assure that its practices are fully consistent with the democratic values that have helped the Internet to flourish," she added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/07/us-internet-piracy-idUSTRE7667FL20110707

tl;dr: Verizon, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cablevision and AT&T will all reduce bandwidth of anyone downloading illegal content.

[halfelite]

I dont see anything coming from it. Almost everything I do is encrypted both work related and if I download something they wont be able to tell what im actually doing.  And if they reduce my bandwidth and it effects my work im sure a nice phone call from a lawyer will change it.

[Meomix]

Time to set up a VPN!

[saidin1015]

Time to set up a VPN!

know any good servers?

[Bob2004]

Time to set up a VPN!

know any good servers?

SwissVPN are cheap and reliable, though the speed is slower than many (I get around 700KB/s downloads according to bittorrent). It's the service I use (their new SSTP option is excellent).

I also have one word of caution for anyone looking for a good VPN service: Don't use a PPTP or LT2P VPN. While they do work, the connection between you and the server is not properly encrypted, so your ISP can still see what you're doing. You should go with a service that provides either OpenVPN (3rd party open-source software that works on all platforms), or SSTP (also known as SSL VPN, and which is built into Windows Vista and 7).

[kitamesume]

any free VPN that doesn't cap the speeds too much? 250KB/s cap is about enough for me(because thats my max speed XD)

[Bob2004]

any free VPN that doesn't cap the speeds too much? 250KB/s cap is about enough for me(because thats my max speed XD)

Not that I know of. There's Tor, where you'll be lucky to get 20-30KB/s, and I used a service called HTTP-Tunnel a few years back which offered roughly dialup speeds for free, but that's about it as far as I'm aware. Any service of higher quality than that is going to cost money, I'm afraid, due to the cost of providing the bandwidth.

[BrownMasterV]

The group argues that content piracy costs the U.S. economy more than 373,000 jobs, $16 billion in lost earnings and $3 billion in tax revenue each year.

You hear that? All that hentai is costing Americans jobs!

[rostheferret]

Oh my ISP has been doing this for years. They say they monitor all packet transfers but so long as you capped it at certain times nobody gave a crap...

[Freedom Kira]

You hear that? All that hentai is costing Americans jobs!

Don't forget the porn!

--

I really like that word they throw around everywhere. Copyright. Everything you download is copyrighted. Every web page. It was created by some entity that holds copyrights to that page.

[Meomix]

I'm really curious as to what the crack version of internet DRM will be, it's going to be so epic if they manage to triforce the ISPs browsers.

[Tiffanys]

Time to set up a VPN!

know any good servers?

SwissVPN are cheap and reliable, though the speed is slower than many (I get around 700KB/s downloads according to bittorrent). It's the service I use (their new SSTP option is excellent).

I also have one word of caution for anyone looking for a good VPN service: Don't use a PPTP or LT2P VPN. While they do work, the connection between you and the server is not properly encrypted, so your ISP can still see what you're doing. You should go with a service that provides either OpenVPN (3rd party open-source software that works on all platforms), or SSTP (also known as SSL VPN, and which is built into Windows Vista and 7).

How about your upload speeds?

[Burkingam]

This is old news in canada.

[x5ga]

(Reuters) - Consumers who illegally download copyrighted films, music or television shows might see their Internet speed slowed or access restricted under an industry anti-piracy effort announced on Thursday.

So, my warez are okay?

[Bob2004]

Time to set up a VPN!

know any good servers?

SwissVPN are cheap and reliable, though the speed is slower than many (I get around 700KB/s downloads according to bittorrent). It's the service I use (their new SSTP option is excellent).

I also have one word of caution for anyone looking for a good VPN service: Don't use a PPTP or LT2P VPN. While they do work, the connection between you and the server is not properly encrypted, so your ISP can still see what you're doing. You should go with a service that provides either OpenVPN (3rd party open-source software that works on all platforms), or SSTP (also known as SSL VPN, and which is built into Windows Vista and 7).

How about your upload speeds?

Utorrent's bandwidth test tells me 83.1KB/s, which is roughly the upload speed I get on my home connection anyway, so I can't tell how much faster the VPN can go. Annoyingly they don't say what speeds you get anywhere on their website either, though it presumably depends how far away you are from Switzerland.

[dogsinafen]

A google search will give you a nice list of VPN providers that won't block/limit p2p connections...

[Kyrdua]

I really like that word they throw around everywhere. Copyright. Everything you download is copyrighted. Every web page. It was created by some entity that holds copyrights to that page.

I'm not sure if i understand what you're trying to say here.

[rkruger]

The group argues that content piracy costs the U.S. economy more than 373,000 jobs, $16 billion in lost earnings and $3 billion in tax revenue each year.

You hear that? All that hentai is costing Americans jobs!

So, if said piracy did not exist, 373000 more people would be employed? To do what exactly?
Sorry, companies don't hire people just for fun. Those "lost earnings" would probably just expand the pockets of the people on top of the food chain. Excuse me for not crying.

[Freedom Kira]

This is old news in canada.

Yeah? Shaw disagrees, apparently. Or maybe I'm just not downloading anything that fits the criteria.

I'm not sure if i understand what you're trying to say here.

Basically, the moment something is created, it is copyrighted to the creator. Whether it's something you say aloud to someone else, graffiti you paint on a wall, or a post you make on a forum, no one has the right to make an exact copy of it without giving you full credit.

So, why say a film in particular is copyrighted? Everything is. It's like saying this website is on the Internet. Well, inform me of a website that isn't.

Point is, when you surf the web, your computer makes a temporary local copy of every page you visit. Only difference here is that the copy is deleted once you leave the page or close your browser, depending on the browser, so the creators don't particularly care.

[Tiffanys]

I was reading SwissVPN's general terms and conditions and it really seems like they don't try to protect their clients at all.

2. Obligations of the Client
General
In particular, the Client must ensure that the internet access is used
in accordance with current legislation and existing contracts (esp.
Clause 5) and that the payments for services subscribed to (see
Clauses 3 and 4) are made on time.

. . . skip . . .

5. Information content; correct legal and
contractual use; misuse
Information content
The Client is responsible for the content of the information (data,
language in any form) transmitted or processed by Monzoon or made
available by the Client to third parties. Monzoon is not responsible for
these data nor for any information that the Client receives via the
internet network or which third parties distribute or make available via
internet networks.
Correct legal and contractual use
The Client is responsible for ensuring that the internet access is used
in accordance with current legislation and existing contracts. The
Client may not use the internet access to disturb or annoy (e.g.
spamming) third parties, nor to prevent the correct functioning of
another network access, nor for any other, illegal, purpose. Illegal
purposes include the transmission or provision of illegal content, as
well as advertising campaigns or messages where the sender knows
(or must be aware) that the recipient does not wish to receive
promotional calls or messages.
Usage of Monzoon Services Through Third Parties
A direct or secondary use of Monzoon services through third parties
is prohibited without explicit written permission from Monzoon
Networks. In particular, it is prohibited to give or share user names or
passwords, or in any other way allow or enable unallowed third party
use.
Measures against misuse
If there is evidence of illegal use of an internet access, if such misuse
is reported by a competent authority, or if a legal ruling decrees a
misuse, Monzoon can demand that the Client’s access be in
compliance with current legislation and existing contracts, may
discontinue the services provided without prior notice or
indemnification, cancel the contract without notice or indemnification
and if necessary seek compensation. Monzoon can effect the same
measures if it has grounds for assuming that the Client is violating or
will violate the contract, or that they provided incorrect or incomplete
details when taking out the contract. If Monzoon cancels the contract
for any of these reasons, the Client shall be liable for the payment of
any outstanding amounts in accordance with the contractual
conditions governing the early termination of the contract.