Slashdot reports about the next escalation level of the war Big Content is waging.
The infamous "Valenciennes graduated response" tactic (3 strikes and you are out: a private organization can take your Internet connection away after 3 accusations of " illegal content" downloading) has been quickly adopted as the favourite approach by lobbyists in several countries. But why wait so long?
A Kiwi reports that :
" Next month, New Zealand is scheduled to implement Section 92 of the Copyright
Amendment Act. The controversial act provides 'Guilt Upon Accusation,' which
means that if a file-sharer is simply accused of copyright infringement he/she
will be punished
with summary Internet disconnection. Unlike most laws, this one has no
appeal process and no punishment for false accusation, because they
were removed after public consultation "
As Creative Freedom describes " As ISPs transmit data across their own network (for their users) they're open to
copyright infringement claims themselves unless they comply with [section 92].
ISPs are therefore put into the role of policing copyright infringement
accusations without judicial oversight against their customers, all while
risking their business if they get it wrong."
The implementation of this Act is probably the best way to show the madness of these approaches. How many PC's are infected with programs that somehow create traffic the owner is unaware of? What about young children who start a download which results in termination of the families Internet connection? How easy will it be for sophisticated hackers to target specific people and create an infringement with serious effects for the target?
The politicians will probably see an uproar of their voters before the economic effects will become visible. After all, making Internet a dangerous place to be is very, very bad policy.
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