Technical Blog Post

Today, the Copyright Alert System (CAS), went live across the five (5) major ISPs in the United States.

The CAS is simply a method of:

1) Alerting copyright owners that their original content that has been published online, has been pirated

2) Slowing down Internet access to those pirating the online content or disabling their viewing of videos, via their browsers, until they remove the infringing copy of the content.

[Copyright is the exclusive right given to original creators of content [whether this content be in written, audio, video, (dramatic production), film, broadcast or pictorial form], to make copies, license or otherwise exploit their work, commercially, for a limited period of time.

(In the both the USA and Jamaica, this time frame is during the content creator's lifetime and up to 50 years after his/her death)].

Copyright infringement/piracy is a major problem globally, costing content creators/owners and their governments, US $trillions.

According to article,"Will the “Six Strikes” Copyright Alert System Hurt Consumers And Small Businesses?" by Zach Walton, WebProNews, the Copyright Alert System (CAS) seeks to:

1) Alert the content creator of the infringer's IP address and his/her ISP's name. (The infringer's personal details will not be shared with the content creator).

2) The content creator will then be responsible for notifying the infringer's ISP of the breach, providing the details collected

3) The infringer's ISP will then give up to six (6) levels of notification to the copyright infringer, that he/she is acting illegally.

[These will be in the form of three (3) tiers, consisting of two (2) alert levels each, that will be enacted if the copyright infringer refuses to accede to the previous tiers:

a) The first tier will consist of two (2) email alerts

b) The second tier will trigger two (2) alerts, which will disable the infringer's browsers

c) The final tier will consist of two (2) mitigation measures from the ISP that reduce Internet speed to a trickle].

The above is really intended to boost copyright protection within the US, thus improving the amount of money that goes into the formal economy from copyright owners' being able to legally exploit their content, commercially.

While CAS may negatively affect some small businesses, e.g. cafe owners who offer their customers, free WIFI over residential WIFI networks...as they may suffer as a result of infringing customers...it is mainly intended to boost the US economy.

However, if anyone feels that he/she has been wrongfully accused of infringement, he/she can, under CAS, make an appeal re this.

Please read more about the Copyright Alert System and how it will further the protection of original online content, within the USA, here.

Gillian

1) Article,"Will the “Six Strikes” Copyright Alert System Hurt Consumers And Small Businesses?", by Zach Walton, WebProNews , March 4,2013

2) Article, "Copyright", Wikipedia.org accessed March 4,2013

3) Web Page "About Copyright and Related Rights", Jamaica Intellectual Property Office, accessed March 4,2013.