FILE - In this Jan.10, 2012 file photo, Xavier Niel , the French internet billionaire and founder of the Internet provider Free delivers his speech in Paris. France’s government says Monday, Jan.7, 2013 it has persuaded the leading Internet provider to stop blocking online advertisements, a controversial move that would have hit online search giants such as Google. Free last week started automatically blocking ads for some users. Many Internet companies such as Google earn big revenues from such ads while offering searches or other services for free. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)
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FILE - In this Jan.10, 2012 file photo, Xavier Niel , the French internet billionaire and founder of the Internet provider Free delivers his speech in Paris. France’s government says Monday, Jan.7, 2013 it has persuaded the leading Internet provider to stop blocking online advertisements, a controversial move that would have hit online search giants such as Google. Free last week started automatically blocking ads for some users. Many Internet companies such as Google earn big revenues from such ads while offering searches or other services for free. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)
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This Oct. 17, 2012, photo, shows a Verizon Wireless sign at a Little Rock, Ark.Verizon Wireless, the largest cellphone carrier in the U.S., said Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, it will sell a Nokia phone for the first time in years, lending support to the embattled Finnish company's turnaround effort. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
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In this Sept. 4, 2012, photo, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. President Barack Obama may face the voters in two months, but several Democrats are already laying the groundwork for a future White House run. Up-and-coming Democratic stars like O'Malley, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, Booker and others are making the rounds before state delegations and at private events surrounding the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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FILE - This Feb. 11, 2012 file photo shows President of the National Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences Neil Portnow speaking at the Pre-GRAMMY Gala & Salute to Industry Icons with Clive Davis honoring Richard Branson in Beverly Hills, Calif. Portnow said in a statement that music fans are getting less information on songs today because of digital platforms, which tend to only offer a song's title and performer. But the Academy wants be sure fans are getting liner notes for albums, and that songwriters, non-featured performers, producers and engineers are highlighted for their work. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci, file)
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FILE- In this Wednesday Sept. 19, 2007 file photo, an iPhone is displayed next to a T-Mobile sign, in Berlin. Unlimited wireless data is back. After sliding off the menu of cellphone plans, data plans with no caps are making a comeback at smaller wireless companies trying to compete with AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile USA, the nation's fourth-largest cellphone company, said Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, that it will start selling an unlimited-data plan again on Sept. 5, (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
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FILE -- In this March 23, 2004 file photo, workers at the tank farms on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash., measure for radiation and the presence of toxic vapors. Six underground radioactive waste tanks at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site are leaking, Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. Inslee made the announcement after meeting with federal officials in Washington, D.C. Last week it was revealed that one of the 177 tanks at south-central Washington's Hanford Nuclear Reservation was leaking liquids. Inslee called the latest news "disturbing." (AP Photo/Jackie Johnston, File)
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FILE - In this July 14, 2010 photo, workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation work around a a tank farm where highly radioactive waste is stored underground near Richland, Wash. Six underground radioactive waste tanks at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site are leaking, Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. Inslee made the announcement after meeting with federal officials in Washington, D.C. Last week it was revealed that one of the 177 tanks at south-central Washington's Hanford Nuclear Reservation was leaking liquids. Inslee called the latest news "disturbing." (AP Photo/Shannon Dininny, File)
Net providers begin warning of illegal downloads
WASHINGTON (
AP) — Internet users who illegally share music, movies or television shows online could soon receive warning notices from the nation's five major Internet service providers.
The Copyright Alert System, organized by the recording and film industry, is being activated this week to target consumers using peer-to-peer software.
Under the new system, complaints will prompt an Internet service provider — such as Verizon or AT&T — to notify a customer whose Internet address has been detected sharing files illegally. A person will be given up to six opportunities to stop before the Internet provider will take more drastic steps, such as temporarily slowing their connection, or redirecting Internet traffic until they acknowledge they received a notice or review educational materials about copyright law.
Consumers who maintain they have been wrongly accused would be forced to pay $35 to appeal the decision. The fee would be reimbursed if they prevail.
Proponents say the focus is on deterring the average consumer rather than chronic violators. The director of the organization behind the system, Jill Lesser of the Center for Copyright Infringement, said in a blog post Monday that the program is "meant to educate rather than punish, and direct (users) to legal alternatives."
Each Internet provider is expected to implement their own system. The program gives each customer five or six "strikes" after a music or film company has detected illegal file-sharing and lodged a complaint. The first alerts are expected to be educational, while the third and fourth would require the customer to acknowledge that they have received the warnings and understand their behavior is illegal. The final warnings are expected to lead to "mitigation measures," such as slowing a person's Internet connection speeds.
Officials involved in the effort acknowledge it's unlikely to stop the biggest violators. There are ways to disguise an IP address or use a neighbor's connection that is unlocked. Public wireless connections, such as those offered at coffee shops, also won't be monitored.
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