Certainly hesitant about terminating customers amidst economic downturn, but some may be quietly assisting and trying to avoid customer backlash and negative PR.
It’s been almost 3 weeks now that the RIAA announced that it decided to quit suing individual file-sharers a few months ago and would instead target ISPs for their cooperation in terminating the Internet connections of customers repeatedly accused of illegal file-sharing.
But as it makes this tactical adjustment, the RIAA will have to abandon its largely go-it-alone lawsuit strategy in favor of a more cooperative approach that will require the participation of cable companies, telecommunications carriers, public officials and legislators.
Enlisting the ISPs as allies, however, hasn’t been an easy task. The RIAA claims it has secured the cooperation of leading ISPs in its graduated-response efforts, but RIAA general counsel Steve Marks would not disclose which ones are. Verizon, the second-largest ISP in the US, has said it does not have any agreement with the RIAA whatsoever.
"The RIAA seems to be out there discussing these agreements, but we’re not aware of it, whatever it is," said Eric Rabe, senior vice president of Media Relations at Verizon, to Digital Music News. "We have agreements with some copyright owners, and if they believe that their copyright has been abused, we will forward that complaint to a customer without disclosing the name of that customer. We have a long history of judiciously protecting the identities of our customers."
Rabe says that Verizon prefers that the legal system be the venue for ensuring copyright protection rather than an unbalanced entertainment industry approach that lacks judicial oversight.
"We understand that there must be respect for copyright, and that it is important for the development of content. But we need some sort of balance, and there are procedures and laws in the courts now that allow copyright holders to take action. If we receive a subpoena, we will respond," Rabe noted.
So who ISPs does the RIAA have agreements with?
"All I can tell you right now is that we have an agreement on principle with several leading ISPs but not all, and the agreement on principle is confidential," RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth told Wired.
However, AOL, Comcast, and Charter Communications have all indicated that they will disconnect customers accused of illegal file-sharing.
Cox Communications, if you recall, has stepped up enforcement of DMCA letters, using them as a pretext to disconnect users who receive 4 in a 12mo period.
Moreover, it may just be that the RIAA is right and that it does have agreements in place with some of the major ISPs, but that those ISPs are keeping quiet since it could mean the loss of customers and negative public relations.
jared@zeropaid.com
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- Virgin Media: ‘We Have No Plans to Disconnect Illegal File-Sharers
- Danish ISPs Refuse Demands to Disconnect File-Sharers
- Japanese ISPs to Ban File-Sharers from the Internet
- Virgin Media: ‘We Won’t Sue or Disconnect Illegal File-Sharers’
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