ISPs Kick Off 'Six Strikes' Copyright Warnings This Week

Comcast, TWC, AT&T, Verizon and Cablevision to begin notifying suspected pirates

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/25/2013 2:32:07 PM

This week five major U.S. Internet service providers -- Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Verizon Communications and Cablevision Systems -- will begin alerting broadband subscribers who are suspected of illegally sharing or downloading copyrighted content, under the media industry-led "six strikes" program.

That's according to a blog post Monday by Jill Lesser, executive director of the Center for Copyright Information, the "educational" coalition established by the ISPs and the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, music labels, and TV and movie producers.

"Consumers whose accounts have been used to share copyrighted content over P2P networks illegally (or without authority) will receive Alerts that are meant to educate rather than punish, and direct them to legal alternatives," Lesser wrote.

Initially, the Copyright Alert System will simply warns alleged pirates that illegal file-sharing has been detected on their account. Services providers will then point them to different sources of legitimate online content, such as iTunes, Netflix, Amazon or Spotify.

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