Leaders in entertainment and media are teaming up with several Internet service providers in an effort to reduce illegal downloading. The Copyright Alerts program will send warning email messages to Internet subscribers if there is suspicion that their accounts may have been used to download illegal files. After the sixth violation, the service provider can take action, such as slowing the user’s broadband speed.
Corey Field, of counsel in Ballard Spahr’s Los Angeles office and President of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A, said the move was exciting, given that the Digital Millenium Copyright Act provides safe harbors for Internet service providers. “What’s new here is that voluntarily, the ISPs are getting more proactive on protecting copyright.”