Yesterday, the major US ISP's, such as AT&T and Verizon and media companies, such as Motion Picture Association have agreed to a systematic approach to identify customers suspected of digital copyright infringement. 

The Copyright Alert System consists of six warnings that an ISP can send to a customer whom the media companies identified as a copyright infringer. The warning can consist only of an e-mail. In that case, the subscriber receives a notification that his/her account may have been misused for illegal downloading, and/or the notification of the consequences thereof. The e-mail is meant to be educational, as the ISP can also provide explanatory steps that will help to avoid illegal downloading in the future. In the fifth and/or sixth alert, the ISP can institute “mitigation measures”. These measures can include reduction of Internet speed, redirection to a landing page until the subscriber contacts the ISP to discuss the matter or reviews, and/or the request to respond to the (earlier given) information about copyright. 

 “This is a sensible approach to the problem of online content theft and, importantly, one that respects the privacy and rights of our subscribers ”, Randal Milch says, the executive vice president of Verizon. 

Reference: NYtimes.com