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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (138545)	8/3/2001 5:30:41 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1570958

From Ar-Technica ars-technica.com ISPs cutting off users for file sharing Posted 07/26/2001 - 12:43pm EDT [Discussion] News.com is running an infuriating article on the pressure that the MPAA, RIAA, and independent, copyright-enforcing "bounty hunters" are putting on ISPs to terminate the accounts of individuals caught sharing copyrighted content using post-Napster programs like Bearshare or Gnutella. The crazy part is, some ISPs are caving and terminating accounts in response to threatening legal letters. Using this information, ISPs can figure out who was using that address at that time. Some, like Verizon, are resisting the demands, saying that copyright law does not force them to monitor or respond directly to content that is on their subscribers' hard drives. Others, like Adelphia, quickly cut off their subscribers' connections. Many, including DirecTV Broadband and Excite@Home, issue warning letters to their subscribers. If there is a second violation, the subscribers' accounts may be terminated for violating the ISPs' terms-of-service agreements, which generally bar using the networks for copyright violations. Excite@Home says most cases have stopped short of pulling the plug, and that only one person has been terminated. Regardless of what you think of the sharing of copyrighted content, ISP's aren't liable for the files people choose to keep on their hard drives and share with each other, nor should they feel empowered to act as censors. Of course, if broadband/media consolidation continues at its present rate (cough AOL-TIME-WARNER + ATT cough), the battle will be unequivocally and completely lost. -Hannibal news.cnet.com