AT&T And Comcast's Non-Denial Denial Of Three Strikes

from the watch-this-space dept

Yesterday some stories broke about how AT&T and Comcast were "testing" the RIAA's "three strikes" plan. As we noted, this wasn't a surprise at all, as both companies had indicated willingness to do so -- but it was amusing to see both companies avoid fully admitting it. In fact, both companies have now come out denying that they're doing any such thing, but you have to read between the lines here, and it's not at all difficult to see what's almost certainly happening.

Both companies are "testing" a program by which they send infringement notices on to the users. That's the part that both have admitted they're doing, but they get to deny any three strikes plan, because no one's getting cut off. But, that's only because people haven't been accused multiple times yet. Thus, this way they get to start heading down that path without ever making an official statement that they support the RIAA's plan to kick people off. It's a way to ease into such a program (they hope) without the PR headaches that would come with such a plan. But, note that neither AT&T nor Comcast will take a stand like Verizon has, where it flat out said that it will not give in to the RIAA (and, in Verizon's case, the company does have a decent history fighting against the RIAA when it comes to protecting its customers' privacy).

If AT&T and Comcast really want people to believe that they're not going down this path, then why won't they come out and say the same things that Verizon is saying?

Filed Under: isps, three strikes
Companies: at&t, comcast

ISPs Testing RIAA's 3 Strikes Program

from the no-surprise-there dept

Unfortunately, I missed yesterday's panel here in Nashville about the "ISP/recording industry relationship," but apparently Jim Cicconi from AT&T admitted what most people had already assumed: that it was a willing and eager participant in the RIAA's self-destructive campaign to kick people off the internet for file sharing -- and, in fact, has started a "test" whereby it's sending out notices to those accused of file sharing. This isn't much of a surprise, but it's interesting to see how quiet AT&T is still being about all of this. It's still not releasing many details, perhaps knowing that doing so would lead to a pretty massive backlash -- while also recognizing that the severe lack of competition out there in most of its markets means that customers really don't have much of a choice. Update: Apparently, Comcast and Cox have admitted the same thing as well. Disappointed to have missed that panel yesterday.

Filed Under: isps, jim cicconi, three strikes
Companies: at&t

New Zealand Dumps 3 Strikes Plan... For Now

from the about-time dept

After temporarily backing down from the controversial 3 strikes provision that was put into a bill in a sneaky way (after it had been rejected by legislators, the country's copyright minister simply added it back in), it looks like New Zealand has decided to start again completely. Officials in New Zealand note that no agreement was reached in the month allotted to work out a new plan, so they're going to scrap the entire provision -- and look to start over from scratch with no specific timeline in place. Hopefully, this means that when it comes to a new law, the considerations of all parties will be considered, rather than just those of the entertainment industry.

Filed Under: new zealand, protests, three strikes

Irish ISPs Point Out They're Under No Obligation To Follow Three Strikes Policy

from the pushback-time dept

Last month, we wrote about how the recording industry association in Ireland, IRMA, was sending around vaguely threatening letters to ISPs, telling them that they had to abide by the settlement terms made by the ISP Eircom, which included a three strikes policy and, according to IRMA -- but not Eircom -- an agreement not to protest should IRMA convince the gov't that certain sites, such as The Pirate Bay, should be blocked altogether. Luckily, the folks at those ISPs recognize they're under no legal obligation to do this, and as reader eoinmonty alerts us, those ISPs have now made that clear to IRMA, sending the group a letter, saying that the legal threat implied by IRMA's original letter was spurious, and the ISPs believe they're just fine under current European law.

Filed Under: ireland, isps, three strikes

South Korea The Latest To Introduce Three Strikes Plan

from the entertainment-industry-lobbyists-are-everywhere dept

Even with cutbacks, you have to hand it to entertainment industry lobbyists who are able to push through similar legislation around the world. The latest is that South Korea is joining the ranks of countries like New Zealand and France in pushing for a "three strikes" rule that would kick users off the internet after being accused (not found guilty) of unauthorized file sharing. Notice how this works, of course. Just last week, New Zealand officials were defending this plan by saying they were only doing what plenty of other countries had already done (which isn't true, since no one has made such a plan into law yet). But, by getting many countries to introduce vaguely similar laws, everyone can just claim "oh look, it's what country X is doing, and we need to do the same thing to stay current." It's how the entertainment industry has forced legal changes world wide for years.

Filed Under: copyright, south korea, three strikes

French Telcos Point Out How Costly It Is If Sarkozy Forces Them To Be Copyright Cops

from the why-put-the-burden-on-the-telcos? dept

With France still trying to move forward with its plan to require ISPs to remove accused file sharers from the internet via a "three strikes" policy, French telcos and ISPs are protesting the plan, noting that it would cost them millions of dollars to obey the law, and they see no reason why the burden should be on them. This is an important point that often gets missed in the debates over such "three strikes" policies. The problem is that the entertainment industry refuses to adapt its business model to the changing market. There's ample evidence that if they did embrace new business models, they'd do quite well. So why should other companies pay for the entertainment industry's own laziness? And why are politicians (even those who seem to ignore copyright rules themselves) helping to push this through?

Filed Under: france, isps, three strikes

Is Nicholas Sarkozy One Strike Towards Losing His Internet Connection?

from the it's-always-those-politicians... dept

Why is it always the politicians who are pushing for stronger copyright laws that are caught infringing on the copyrights of others? The latest is that French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, a big supporter of setting up a three strikes law in France, is being accused of violating copyright law himself. Apparently, he used the music of an American band, MGMT, at an event and in two online videos. In the US, use at an event would be okay assuming that the venue had paid a standard performance license -- but use in the video would most likely be infringement. I'm not quite sure how France's current copyright laws match up, but it certainly does seem pretty questionable for a politician going on about the harm done by people sharing music without paying for it to be doing the same. So, the obvious question arises: does this mean Sarkozy is now only two strikes away from losing his internet connection? If he believe so strongly in such things, this shouldn't be a problem, right?

Filed Under: copyright, france, mgmt, nicholas sarkozy, three strikes

Recording Industry, Politicians Continue To Give Bogus Reasons To Support 3 Strikes In New Zealand

from the doesn't-anyone-call-them-on-this-crap? dept

Lawrence D'Oliveiro continues to keep us informed on the more ridiculous aspects of the push by both the recording industry and certain politicians in New Zealand to push through that country's highly controversial policy to cut off file sharers based on accusations rather than actual convictions for file sharing. First up is that the country's Prime Minister appears to be flat-out lying when he claims that New Zealand has to implement such a plan to remain in compliance with international obligations. That's simply not true. He claims that other countries, like Australia and the UK have already implemented similar plans, but that's also not true. Both countries have considered such a plan, but the UK, for instance, has already said that it will not require ISPs to cut anyone off the internet. To claim that New Zealand has to do so or that other countries have already agreed to the same thing is simply untrue.

Even more disturbing, though, is how the recording industry is pushing back against complaints from ISPs in the ongoing "negotiations" around this bill. Computerworld New Zealand has a leaked memo from the RIANZ, the RIAA's New Zealand wing. In it, the industry complains that it's not reasonable to allow those accused of file sharing to have more than five days to file a counter-notice to fight back against bogus accusations of file sharing. The RIANZ whines that this would allow file sharers to prevent being cut off from the internet. It makes it clear that it thinks the process from notification to getting cut off should be as short as is possible. Apparently, the recording industry isn't a fan of due process.

Then, apparently with a straight face, the RIANZ claims that the evidence it presents to ISPs is "highly reliable, well-tested and accepted worldwide." Tell that to all of the folks who have been falsely accused of file sharing because the evidence is not reliable, not well-tested and hardly accepted worldwide (in fact, US courts have increasingly questioned the weak evidence presented by the industry). The RIANZ also seems to claim that the three strikes policy is a "standard followed in other countries." That sounds nice, aside from the fact that no countries have actually approved such a law. Oh, right, also the RIANZ is upset that ISPs think that it should have to pay the costs associated with sending these notices. So, the recording industry doesn't want to pay the costs, doesn't want to give users much time to respond and is lying about what other countries are doing and the quality of its evidence. And New Zealand politicians are buying it.

Filed Under: new zealand, protests, three strikes

France Plans Government Agency To Boot File Sharers Offline

from the we're-from-the-gov't,-and-we're-here-to-kick-you-offline dept

While the EU Parliament has warned about the civil rights violation represented by any "three strikes" laws that would kick file sharers offline after three accusations (not convictions) of file sharing, France has continued to move forward with just such a law. Michael Scott points us to the news that France is close to finalizing its legislation on the topic, which has one major difference from other "three strikes" laws: rather than the ISPs acting as the copyright police, it will be a new French government agency that will do the dirty work.

Yes, the law will propose an entirely new French bureaucracy, which would act as the intermediary between copyright holders and ISPs. If a copyright holder believes that someone is infringing on copyrights, it would send the info to the agency, who would investigate, get info from the ISP, and (if the agency believed infringement occurred) send out a threat letter to the individuals responsible. That agency would also have the ability to demand that an ISP cut a user off for repeat offenses. What's never explained is why any of this extra-judicial process is needed. Isn't there already a court of law in France that would allow a copyright holder to accuse an alleged infringer in court, where that alleged infringer could mount a defense to show that he or she was not guilty of infringement?

Furthermore, it's unclear why the government should be involved at all -- especially with the growing evidence out there that the "problem" of copyright infringement is simply a business model issue. Those who have put in place smart business models don't seem to have any problems at all with infringement. So why not just point those who are clinging to an obsolete business model to examples of those who have succeeded by embracing file sharing, and tell them it's time to adapt?

Filed Under: disconnect, france, government agency, isps, three strikes

New Zealand Temporarily Backs Down From Controversial Copyright Law

from the let's-see-what-happens-next dept

It looks like the widespread protests against New Zealand's awful copyright law have finally made government officials recognize that something is wrong. They've agreed to delay the implementation of the new law for up to a month -- as the government is hoping that ISPs can come up with a "code of practice" to help deal with copyright infringement online. What's not explained (at all) is why this should somehow be the ISPs responsibility at all. Still, it's good to see that New Zealand politicians are finally recognizing that this is an important issue, and they can't just claim it was a few geeks who were concerned about it.

Filed Under: new zealand, protests, three strikes