The three big ISPs in the U.S., AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon, are set to adopt 'graduated response', otherwise known as 'three-strikes', in an effort to help the entertainment industry curb online piracy, according to sources that talked to CNET.
In a deal that has been struck with assistance from the Obama administration, users of these ISPs could find themselves kicked off the network if they have been caught allegedly downloading pirated content for a number of times (as determined by the ISP).
This news comes only weeks after the United Nations produced a report that claimed 'graduated response' is a human rights violation, if the eventual response is to prevent people from accessing the Internet freely.
The ISPs in question are still mulling over what type of response they will actually use, with the options being a total ban, speed limiting, or only allowing the user to visit the top 200 (legal) websites on the Internet until some point. There is even talk of an education programme for repeat offenders.
A graduated response system has already been trialled in France, with very mixed results as users simply migrated to piracy methods that prevents detection, and also allegations of privacy breaches.
Do you support the plan to introduce 'graduated response', or do you think this is too extreme a measure to try and solve the online piracy problem? Post your answer in this news article's comments section, or in this forum thread:
http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=94968
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