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by IC Expert,
Blaise Alleyne


Filed Under:
copyright, isps, takedowns, three strikes




Would The Entertainment Industry Follow A Three Strikes Rule Itself?

from the three-strikes-and-*you're*-out dept

The entertainment industry has been increasingly pressuring ISPs to be copyright cops. The "three strikes" approach being pushed in France, the UK, Australia and possibly Canada is one of the more extreme attempts which would have unauthorized file sharers kicked off the internet entirely. Cory Doctorow asks if such companies would accept their own rule with a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy for sending out erroneous copyright notices -- meaning that they lose their own access for sending out three bogus takedown notices. Given that organizations like the RIAA and MPAA have sent takedown notices to laser printers and believe that providing proof of infringement is too hard, why not cut them off from the internet too after three questionable takedowns? Doctorow's proposal is admittedly Swiftian; aside from being entertaining, it highlights the ridiculousness of the whole three-strikes-and-you're-off-the-internet idea. If the entertainment industry wants ISPs to impose a three strikes rule for improper usage, they shouldn't mind being held to the same standard.

Blaise Alleyne is an expert at the Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Blaise Alleyne and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.

13 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

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  1. Cox is doing it

    by anony - Jul 1st, 2008 @ 4:10pm

    Don't know if there is a list of ISPs that are doing it already, but from personal experience I know that Cox Cable has implemented and is enforcing its "three strike" rule.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Re: Cox is doing it

    by Vincent Clement - Jul 1st, 2008 @ 5:55pm

    It's one thing for a company to enforce it's own rules. It's another thing when the government makes it the law.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Thumbs Up

    by LTDLP - Jul 1st, 2008 @ 6:14pm

    Yes, that is a very sane proposal. Cory hits the bulleye.
    I'm guessing that the three strikes proponents are not up to the challenge however. If held to their own "rules" you would not hear the end of the wailing, screaming and whining about how unfair it all is.
    btw, how many ISPs are owned by these whiners ?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. Not likely

    by Not Bob - Jul 1st, 2008 @ 6:30pm

    Sorry Mike,
    It seems you have forgotten that when a company/industry/government/person/{insert group here} gets to a certain size, it figures that all the rules are for others and they have no need to follow them themselves.

    Sort of like the "argument" that, "This isn't about us, it's about those thieving pirates."

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. I dont think it will work

    by mike allen - Jul 1st, 2008 @ 10:50pm

    The three strikes rule first it will just piss off ISP customers. 2nd no one has given me the answear to one simple question that of Can they tell the differance between say BBC Iplayer and say Kazaa or other P2P download? i dont think they can. They all use bit torrants and i guess the BBC have copyrights on their shows. so i belive this to be another backfire for the record industry.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  6. Re: Re: Cox is doing it

    by anony - Jul 1st, 2008 @ 11:17pm

    The company in question is under legal pressure from other companies. Cox itself does not monitor its users and does not require proof of copyright infringement for a "strike" to count.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  7. Force it underground..

    by James Gardiner - Jul 2nd, 2008 @ 3:31am

    Either way, P2P networks are going fully encrypted, so they cannot really tell what your shareing.

    And even if they did enforce this big time, it will simply force it underground. Wireless networks, etc, will pop up and users will simply start talking to each other without ISPs getting in the way.

    There is always a way around it. Up until the internet, I still knew a number of people who had a steady stream of pirate content. Not sure how they got it.. But, it is always going to happen.

    James

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  8. Ahem

    by Shohat - Jul 2nd, 2008 @ 3:58am

    So basically Cory is saying that a person that likes getting blowjobs, should also give blowjobs.

    This isn't Sparta.

    Did you just grab my ass ?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  9. Re: Shohat

    by JustMe - Jul 2nd, 2008 @ 5:39am

    No, what they are saying is that if you make baby food, for example, you should be willing to occasionally taste the baby food yourself. If you have lax controls and think that things (heavy metals, rat feces, etc.) might have fallen in to the food and don't want to eat it yourself then perhaps you shouldn't sell it to babies.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  10. Charter

    by zealeus - Jul 2nd, 2008 @ 7:20am

    Charter communications already does the 3-strikes rule, too. I've been in areas that use charter for the last 5 years, and I've only known one person in all that time to get a notice, so chances of getting 3 strikes isn't all that great.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  11. Re: Re: Shohat

    by Bad Analogy Guy - Jul 2nd, 2008 @ 5:01pm

    JustMe -> "what they are saying is that if you make baby food"

    Ahhh, and I thought my analogies were bad .....
    wow
    So ... the RIAA is mommy feeding the babies surfing the net some baby food and the RIAA should have to eat some too.

    I think the RIAA are the babies whining to mommy political court system for the big titty.

    Sheesh

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  12. three strikes

    by oregonnerd - Jul 4th, 2008 @ 10:47am

    No. If the analogy were to be fair...the RIAA would find out it had already violated the three-strikes rule and was headed to prison.

    ...Maybe we should just all go to prison and get training on laying cable, like the brits did...
    --Glenn
    8]

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  13. RE: Shohat

    by Dean Landolt - Jul 6th, 2008 @ 4:19pm

    Interesting analogy Shohat -- I'll certainly have to borrow that...

    I agree that the relationship between the two isn't commutative. But frankly, I don't believe we'd need go to such extends as Doctorow proposes to demonstrate the absurdity of three-strikes: given strict enforcement and many eyes on them, it's unlikely many entertainment firms could go very long without being caught with their hand in the copyright cookie jar, violating someone's copyright one way or another.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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