Is Canada Considering A Three Strikes And You're Off The Internet Policy?

from the keep-an-eye-out dept

With the entertainment industry actively pushing for laws that would require ISPs to kick users off the internet for file sharing, using a "three strikes" policy, Michael Geist is wondering if they've quietly succeeded in Canada. Apparently a French newspaper is reporting that Canadian ISPs are negotiating such a policy already, though there have been no such public statements. Given how secretive the industry and the government have been about new copyright laws, perhaps this isn't too surprising. We do know that the industry was pushing for greater ISP liability as part of copyright law changes a few months back, so it wouldn't be surprising if ISPs were negotiating a "three strikes" type rule to avoid the liability issues. Of course, they probably want to keep it secret, as publicity (and resulting anger) about these types of laws in Europe has at least some politicians moving away from them. However, as the entertainment industry does keep succeeding in getting these types of laws to move forward, how long will it be before similar laws are proposed in the US, with "everyone else is doing it" as part of the reasoning?

Filed Under: canada, copyright, isps, three strikes

New Jersey Says ISPs Need A Subpoena To Give Up Subscriber Info

from the it-really-needed-a-decision? dept

A bunch of folks have sent in the link about the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that ISPs need a valid subpoena to hand over private info on your account to anyone -- including the police. While people are rightfully cheering this on as an excellent decision, what's troubling is the idea that anyone has felt otherwise. ISPs (and other service providers) shouldn't be handing out your private data without a valid legal reason no matter what -- and that should not have required a legal decision to make clear.

Filed Under: isps, new jersey, subpoena, subscriber info

Growing Number Of ISPs Injecting Own Content Into Websites

from the this-is-not-a-good-trend dept

With growing concerns over companies like Phorm and NebuAd enabling ISPs to insert their own ads into your web surfing, some researchers decided to see if this is already happening -- and were surprised to find it more prevalent than they expected. It's still not a huge number, but in tests, they found that there definitely are some ISPs already using such technology to inject ads, though they tend to be smaller "no name" ISPs. The one big exception was XO Communications -- though XO claims that any ad injections must be done by downstream resellers of its wholesale service. Either way, this ought to raise some questions about what rights ISPs have to get in the middle and alter the data that you requested and which was served by a third party.

Filed Under: ads, clickstream, isps
Companies: nebuad, phorm

European Parliament Rejects IFPI Plan To Make ISPs Copyright Cops

from the good-for-them dept

There's been a huge lobbying campaign going on throughout much of the world to get local governments to put pressure on ISPs to require them to kick those accused of file sharing off of the internet. It had been worrisome that these efforts actually seemed to be getting some traction in both France and the UK despite vehement opposition from many people. It appears that the opposition has started to get its point of view across. The EU Parliament has now rejected a plan to criminalize file sharing and to implement a "three strikes and you're off the internet" policy. The vote itself isn't binding, but suggests how the EU Parliament feels. While France has already put in place such a law, there was some feeling that France would push to make similar laws enforced European-wide. This vote should put a damper on those plans.

Filed Under: copyright cops, europe, european parliament, france, ifpi, isps
Companies: ifpi

AP Examines Just How Ridiculous ISP Contracts Are

from the just-so-you-know dept

We recently learned that customers of Verizon's FiOS service don't get to see the full terms of service they're agreeing to until after it's been installed. But, of course, no one actually reads those kinds of things, because if you did, you'd probably never agree to it. To help you out, the Associated Press took some time to read through various ISP end user license agreements (EULAs) and discovered that ISPs put a ton of ridiculous stuff in the fine print, which is basically to give them many different options to kick you off if they suddenly decide you've become a problem. Or, in some cases, it's because lawyers want to protect the ISPs from ridiculous lawsuits, which leads them to put in clauses warning customers that the ISP (in this case, Verizon) doesn't own the internet, so that people know they can't sue Verizon for something that happens online. Verizon recently removed that clause, apparently realizing that it was a bit extraneous.

Filed Under: contracts, eulas, isps, terms of use
Companies: verizon

Another UK ISP Insists It Won't Become A Copyright Cop; Scolds BPI

from the not-here-to-do-your-work dept

Well there go those plans. Over in the UK, the British equivalent of the RIAA, the BPI, was pretty confident that it had the government on its side in forcing ISPs to become copyright cops and to kick off users found to be sharing unauthorized files. However, it looks like the BPI may have gotten a little ahead of itself. First, the BPI leaked to the press that Virgin Media would voluntarily agree only to have the ISP vehemently deny that it would do any such thing. Now, TalkTalk, the third largest ISP in the country isn't just saying it won't be a copyright cop fot the BPI, but its CEO is angrily denouncing the BPI for sending "the most unbelievably rude letter" demanding it do so. As its CEO said, it's as if the BPI is making ISPs pay the price for the record labels own failure to adopt: "They're not just shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted -- the horse has left town, got married, and started a family." The BPI, for its part, has also responded angrily claiming that TalkTalk "just doesn't get it." It then goes on to talk about "fairness" and "partnerships" apparently missing the irony that the record labels are notorious for not being particularly fair and being absolutely terrible partners.

Filed Under: bans, bpi, copyright, isps, uk
Companies: bpi, talktalk

Virgin Denies Reports That It Will Kick File Sharers Offline

from the no-sirree dept

Earlier in the week there were reports that even without a government mandate, Virgin Media had come to an agreement with the entertainment industry to start kicking off users accused of file sharing, using a "three strike" rule. However, Virgin has now claimed that no such plan is in place while also noting that it found the concept "draconian." Reading between the lines, it certainly sounds like BPI (the British equivalent of the RIAA) presented Virgin with a plan to do this, and Virgin basically told BPI that it would consider the plan, at which point BPI leaked a report to the press that it was a done deal.

Filed Under: ban, file sharing, isps, uk
Companies: virgin

Norwegian ISPs And Consumer Council Fight Back Against Entertainment Industry Threat Letters

from the sorry,-no-can-do dept

∅yvind Kaldestad writes in to point us to a story he wrote for a Norwegian publication, that shows the ongoing trend of the entertainment industry pressuring ISPs in Europe to block file sharing or kick file sharers off their networks. However, in this case, it looks like the ISPs (smartly) are fighting back, and they've got the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) at their backs. A law firm representing entertainment industry interests sent letters to various Norwegian ISPs, demanding they send specific letters to those suspected of unauthorized file sharing. The letter requests a signature accepting responsibility for their file sharing activities and renouncing all future unauthorized file sharing. However, the ISPs quickly rejected such letters, and the NCC warned people not to sign such a letter, as it makes the consumer liable for activities they might not actually have committed, and also removes the due process they are entitled to. The NCC also notes that, despite the claims in the letters, the Norwegian ISPs are unlikely to be liable for the actions of its users under both Norwegian and international law. Once again, this seems to be part of a highly coordinated campaign by the entertainment industry (and the IFPI specifically) to get ISPs to be their policemen and to prop up their obsolete business model.

Filed Under: file sharing, isps, liability, norway, threats

Turns Out BT's Phorm Tracking Tests Were More Extensive Than Previously Reported

from the transparency? dept

Last month, we noted that BT had secretly tested Phorm's tracking system without telling customers in the summer of 2007. This gave users no way to opt-out as they had no idea their surfing was being tracked. However, now it's being reported that BT's tests were even more extensive than originally reported, and the two companies secretly tracked the internet usage of 18,000 customers back in 2006, before Phorm was even called Phorm. That's back when Phorm was known as 121 Media and considered by many to be in the sneaky adware business. In fact, the BT internal report on the test noted that: "121Media [Phorm] will take action (both technical and public relations) to avoid any perception that their system is a virus, malware or spyware and to show that in effect it is a positive web development." Perhaps that explains Phorm's recent charm offensive. It's part of it's deal with BT.

Filed Under: clickstream treacking, isps, uk
Companies: bt, phorm

Virgin Agrees To Be IFPI's Copyright Cop

from the but-why? dept

Back in February, there were reports that the entertainment industry had somehow convinced the UK gov't that the "file sharing issue" should be the responsibility of ISPs, rather than the record labels whose obsolete business model caused the problem in the first place. The UK gov't then issued a very public threat that ISPs had better start kicking file sharers off the internet, or it would pass a law requiring them to do so. It appears that rather than push back, Virgin Media has jumped right in and will start kicking those accused of unauthorized sharing off their system using a "three strikes" policy. Of course, some might find this a bit ironic, considering that part of Virgin's entire marketing campaign was around how you could get free stuff via its internet connection. In the meantime, it's still not clear why ISPs should be responsible for propping up a different industry's business model.

Filed Under: file sharing, isps, uk
Companies: ifpi, virgin media