Since the Napster era began in 1999, content creators and distributors have really, really hated it when you share their stuff online without paying up. Industry groups have tried many ways to stem the tide but one, a four-year-old cooperative alert system, is being scrapped after basically proving not to work. [More]
six strikes
Comcast Can Interrupt Your Web Browsing With Warnings About Potentially Illegal File-Sharing
By 11.23.15
Did you miss last night’s episode of The Walking Dead (where they finally reveal that Glenn shot J.R., but didn’t kill Laura Palmer) because you don’t have cable and just plan on grabbing a pirated version of it from the Internet? If you’re a Comcast customer who has been flagged a potential copyright violator, your web-browsing experience may be interrupted with pop-up warnings. [More]
Porn Copyright Trolls Trying To Use “Six Strikes” Warning System To ID Pirates
By 6.27.14
After years of outrageous lawsuits with 6- and 7- figure penalties thrown at people who illegally shared some music or movies online, the cable industry’s Copyright Alert System (better known as “Six Strikes”) was supposed to represent a happy middle ground, where Internet Service Providers sternly warn alleged violators that they’re onto your file-sharing ways and could you please stop so this doesn’t have to go to court? But folks who make a lot of money off of the threat of copyright lawsuits are hoping to use Six Strikes info to identify pirates. [More]
Private Internet Copyright Cop Company Makes Profit From Every “Settlement”
By 6.4.14
It’s been about 15 years since the heyday of the Napster era made copyright violations and internet piracy the big bugaboo of content publishing industries. For a while, organizations like the RIAA tried suing violators, but nobody benefited from headline-making million-dollar fines. Then the major ISPs all jumped on board with a “six strikes” system to send warnings to suspected violators, but apparently for some content rights owners that’s still not enough. So what is the industry trying now? A private, for-profit digital copyright cop shop. Because that couldn’t possibly backfire in any way. [More]
Report: Comcast Sends Out Around 1,800 Copyright Alert Notices Each Day
By 2.7.14
It’s been almost a year since the nation’s largest Internet service providers began using the Copyright Alert System, better known as Six Strikes, which identifies potentially illegal file-sharing and sends a series of increasingly severe warnings before the ISP penalizes the user. According to a new report from TorrentFreak, in the short time since Six Strikes launched, Comcast has sent out at least 625,000 such warnings. [More]
Comcast Wants To Turn Copyright Pirates Into Legitimate Content Buyers
By 8.6.13
Like a kindly neighborhood store owner who catches a shoplifter in the act and, rather than calling the cops, offers the wannabe thief the opportunity to buy what he was trying to steal, Comcast is reportedly working on copyright alert system that would identify content being illegally shared and say to the downloader, “Hey buddy, you know you can buy that season of Game of Thrones, don’t ya?” [More]
BitTorrent Users Try, Unsuccessfully, To Trigger Copyright Alert System
By 4.29.13
The recently launched Copyright Alert System — a joint venture between big-time content creators and the major Internet service providers — is supposed to trigger a series of alerts and warnings when a subscriber of a participating ISP appears to be illegally sharing copyrighted content. But some who put CAS to the test say they were able to share several items without being flagged. [More]
After Much Delay, The Anti-Piracy “Six Strikes” Program Is Nearing Launch
By 2.25.13
A program intended to fight online piracy without resorting to prosecution was supposed to go live last year but was repeatedly delayed, most recently by Hurricane Sandy. But the folks running the Copyright Alert System (better known as Six Strikes) say it’s ready to go. [More]
‘Six Strikes’ Anti-Piracy Program Delayed To 2013, This Time Because Of Hurricane Sandy
By 11.29.12
A long-in-the-works anti-piracy program from five major telecom players is probably not something you would think could be affected by a hurricane, but that’s apparently what is keeping the “Six Strikes” program from launching this week. [More]
