from the horse-head-in-your-bed dept.
The new Copyright Alert System, a.k.a. the ‘Six Strikes’ policy, went into effect on Monday. Comcast and Verizon activated it today. Ars Technica asked them and other participating ISPs to see the copyright alerts that will be sent to customers who have been identified as infringing. Comcast was the only one to grant their request, saying that a “small number” of the alerts have already been sent out. The alerts will be served to users in the form of in-browser popups. They explain what triggered the alert and ask the user to sign in and confirm they received the alert. (Not admitting guilt, but at least closing off the legal defense of “I didn’t know.”) The article points out that the alerts also reference an email sent to the Comcast email address associated with the account, something many users not be aware of. The first two notices are just notices. Alert #5 indicates a “Mitigation Measure” is about to be applied, and that users will be required to call Comcast’s Security Assurance group and to be lectured on copyright infringement. The article outlines some of the CAS’s failings, such as being unable to detect infringement through a VPN, and disregarding fair use. Comcast said, “We will never use account termination as a mitigation measure under the CAS. We have designed the pop-up browser alerts not to interfere with any essential services obtained over the Internet.” Comcast also assures subscribers that their privacy is being protected, but obvious that’s only to a point. According to TorrentFreak, “Comcast can be asked to hand over IP-addresses of persistent infringers, and the ISP acknowledges that copyright holders can then obtain a subpoena to reveal the personal details of the account holder for legal action.”
