Spin.com: Downloaders Beware: Copyright Alert System Arises as Torrent Sites Enter the Cloud

[Ellis]

AT&T plans to put you on time out, make you read

http://www.spin.com/articles/mega-pirate-bay-copyright-alert-isp?

And the war over copyright infringement on the Internet wages on, with the last couple of days revealing tactical moves from both sides of the battlefield. As SPIN reported yesterday, torrent site Pirate Bay ditched its evidence-accruing servers in favor of a cloud-based data storage system. Now, according to Wired, beleaguered torrent site MegaUpload, shut down by feds in January, is also headed for the cloud with their new venture, Mega.

Mega founder Kim Dotcom highlights an encryption-heavy model that allows his company plausible deniability as to users' activity, as the content of each upload is only accessible by a decryption key randomly generated and provided to the user, who is in charge of managing access.

At the same time, Internet server providers are preparing to roll out a new customer-targeting Copyright Alert System in the coming weeks, Billboard reports. Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Cablevision, and Time Warner Cable are among a group of ISPs that have teamed with the RIAA and its film equivalent the MPAA to design a tiered set of warnings and responses to subscribers who share files illegally.

Initially, violators will be sent simple infringement notices that appear to be simple "cease and desist" orders accompanied by advice on alternatives. Repeat offenders will receive "enhanced alerts" that range from required reading of legal literature to outright bandwidth throttling.

For better or for worse, none of this is really about a noble struggle — artists getting their due versus the people's access to art. Essentially, it boils down to each of these entities' attempts to cover their own asses by shifting responsibility to the individual.

So, basically, be sure you look left before you pass that dutchie.