Last year, the United States’ newly formed Center for Copyright Information (CCI), joined forces with major ISP’s and stakeholders from the entertainment industry to come up with a six strikes warning system against copyright infringers. Head of the CCI, Jill Lesser, has announced that the Copyright Alert System will still be implemented by the end of this year, even though the enactment missed two deadlines already.  

Although it is not yet clear how the system will work precisely, Lesser has given some insight in the considerations the system was based on. Lesser emphasizes the program’s intention to raise awareness among users concerning the perils of downloading illegal content, and to steer them towards legal alternatives.  After five or six warnings issued by their ISP, alleged infringers are forced to watch a 10-minute lasting educational video. However, if the infringing activities continue, ISP’s can take measures against the alleged infringer, which could eventually result in denying access to the Internet.

Simultaneously, in France, enforcement of the much-discussed Hadopi law, which could be considered a predecessor of the US Copyright Alert System, has generated the first court proceedings. This week, 40-year old Alain Prevost became the first person to be convicted on the basis of the French three-strikes system. Interestingly, he was not convicted for copyright infringement, but for failing to secure his Wi-Fi network and ignoring the three warnings send by the Hadopi Agency. The full article about this peculiar case, in which it was actually his wife that downloaded illegal content, can be read on Ars Technica. 

Although the Copyright Alert System seems to be milder than its French counterpart, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights movement, has expressed their discontentment with the proposal. They argue that a lack of transparency concerning the available measures for ISPs, and a lack of public input may result in an ineffective policy. Time will tell whether this discontentment proofs to be justified. 

Read more about this topic on Future of Copyright: 

• French Three Strikes Act results in 14 court cases in two years
• French Three Strikes Act seems to be successful
• IFPI optimistic about growth of digital music market

Sources: Ars Technica

Written by: Nathalie Falot