'Six-strike' anti-piracy campaign postponed until 2013
The Center for Copyright Information -- a venture between ISPs, music labels, and film studios to crackdown on illegal downloads -- says Hurricane Sandy delayed this month's kick off.
The "six strikes" copyright enforcement plan that aims to curb illegal downloads and peer-to-peer file-sharing has been postponed until 2013.
The executive director of the Center for Copyright Information, which is in charge of the copyright warning system, announced today that because of damage from Hurricane Sandy the organization's alert system will not begin until next year.
"Due to unexpected factors largely stemming from Hurricane Sandy which have seriously affected our final testing schedules, CCI anticipates that the participating ISPs will begin sending alerts under the Copyright Alert System in the early part of 2013, rather than by the end of the year," CCI executive director Jill Lesser wrote in a blog post today.
CCI is a joint venture between Hollywood copyright holders and Internet Service Providers that was created in April. AT&T, Cablevision, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Comcast are the participating ISP members in the venture. The goal of the organization is to educate and crack down on people downloading content protected by intellectual copyright -- including videos, games, and music.
Under graduated response, or six strikes, entertainment companies will notify a participating ISP that a customer has allegedly been pirating movies or TV shows illegally. The bandwidth provider will then send a notice intended to educate the customer about the consequences of downloading unauthorized content.
The ISP is then supposed to begin gradually ratcheting up the pressure on customers who ignore the warnings. Eventually, after six warnings, ISPs can choose to suspend service. Graduated response, however, does not include the termination of service. Customers wrongly accused can appeal to their company and can take their case to the arbitration group for review.
The ISP providers were scheduled to begin sending out alerts to users by the end of the year. And leaked documents from AT&T revealed that the network provider would begin sending out warning notices today. But now, the rollout won't happen for at least another month.
"We need to be sure that all of our 'I's are dotted and 'T's crossed before any company begins sending alerts," Lesser wrote, "and we know that those who are following our progress will agree."