Comcast, AT&T May Enter Into Policing Agreement with RIAA

VIRTUAL JUNGLE
Not long ago, the RIAA announced that it would no longer sue individuals for copyright infringement. Instead, the RIAA devised a plan wherein it would partner with Internet service providers to police online pirating. Based on the new plan, after the RIAA identifies a music pirate, it would alert that person’s ISP. The ISP would then warn the copyright infringers about the pitfalls of illegal downloading, possibly cutting their connection. I suppose when the RIAA realized it would always be too costly to sue individuals, it decided to push those costs onto the ISPs themselves.

Unfortunately for the RIAA, ISPs have been reluctant thus far to align themselves with a trade organization that has crafted itself as the Internet’s Big Brother. RIAA workers do, after all, troll around on file sharing services to incriminate the biggest uploaders. Well, AT&T and Comcast, the two largest ISPs in the nation, may have bought into the RIAA’s plan. According to CNET, AT&T and Comcast have told the RIAA that they are willing to participate in a “graduated response program” to curtail online piracy. Together, AT&T and Comcast have more than 30 percent of the Internet market share in America, so their cooperation may sway smaller ISPs to the RIAA’s side.

CNET also reported that ISPs in talks with the RIAA are “skittish” of the partnership, fearing a backlash of negative press. Additionally, the RIAA would have to compensate all of its ISP partners adequately for the work behind sending out notices of piracy and the lost customers who have their connections cut. However, an AT&T spokesperson told CNET that “automatic cutoff of our customers is not something we would do.”

Although ISPs face the scrutiny of partnering with the RIAA, they also stand to gain something from the partnership. The loss of the biggest uploaders would free bandwidth for their other cable customers, so the overall effect on the ISP customer base may be positive increase in speed. Comcast already implemented a 250 GB limit for its customers last October for this exact reason.

by Ben Benson