Battling Online Piracy
By: NBC News
Updated: March 6, 2013
Efforts to battle online piracy crumbled last year in Congress
Advocates of a free and open internet rallied opposition that killed legislation Hollywood supported.
"Obviously, this was a loss, there's no way else to describe that, but the problem doesn't go away," said Chris Dodd, Chairman, Motion Picture Association of America.
So, now, the entertainment industry's trying a different and controversial approach, they've teamed up with five of the nation's leading internet service providers or ISPs to discourage piracy through the copyright alert system.
Content companies will tell an ISP when they've detected that a consumer has illegally downloaded content.
The ISP then sends that user an email or alert about the perils of, and alternatives to, online piracy----but if the piracy continues,
The ISP's warnings intensify.
Consumers can challenge a piracy allegation via arbitration, But CNET senior editor Scott Stein has concerns about this guilty until proven innocent element.
The messy part here is that you're policing somebody's home actions via service that they're paying for. If it starts in one area, will it extend to other areas?" said Stein.
Mark Barger, NBC News.
