24 Oct Online Piracy – ISPs Develop New Weapon Against Copyright Infringement
Batten down the hatches! Major content distributors and internet service providers (ISPs) are preparing to turn up the heat with a new weapon targeting users who stream or download content illegally. Roll out the secret weapon, also known as, “The Copyright Alert System” developed by The Center for Copyright Information. This impressive new content monitoring system has been in not-so-secret development for over four years. Recently the major ISPs and content providers announced to the public that they will soon be implementing the system, and it seems that the day of virtual reckoning is now at hand.
CAS is Watching You
Here is a quote from last Thursday’s release provided by the C.F.C.I.:
“Over the past year, my colleagues and I at the Center for Copyright Information (CCI) have been working hard with our creative content partners, participating Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and our Advisory Board to implement the Copyright Alert System (CAS) initially announced in July 2011. As is often the case with highly technical, multi-party programs, designing, testing and refining the CAS program was, and continues to be, hard work. We are confident the time we invested to get it right has been well worth it. Our top priority has been to make sure the program works well for consumers in every way, to ensure accuracy, protect customer privacy and offer resources that answer consumers’ questions. While our work continues, I am pleased to report that the CAS will begin in the coming weeks.”
Nothing to worry about if you have nothing to hide, right?
Online Piracy vs. Internet Privacy
The debate now is how does this impact your right to privacy on the internet. Sure most people using BitTorrent and other P2P services are usually up to no good, but not always. I never like hearing that people are going to be tracked without their consent on the internet, call me a purist, call me paranoid, I just don’t like it. If you have read my article, “Stop SOPA From Destroying The Internet” you know where we stand on this issue.
I guess the jury is already out on this one, the answer will come in the way it always does on the web, in the form of an almost identical technology with a slight change to prevent being CASed by your ISP. Whats my point, no matter how hard they try, people will always find a way to cheat the system. Oh yea, and if you don’t like it, just don’t use those websites!