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Internet Providers Slow Speed To Reduce Piracy

Internet Providers try to reduce piracy with punishmentThose who download songs and movies illegally and possibly pirated software may soon find themselves with warnings and slow internet access.

In ongoing negotiations between Hollywood, the music industry and the top Internet providers, an agreement has been made with consequences for customers suspected of digital copyright infringement.

The new process would issue several warnings via e-mail and other means while progressively becoming harsher if ignored. This new system is a series of six warnings sent by the Internet provider to suspected offenders. They initially start as simple e-mail notifications and progress to reduced or slow connections speeds and a block on web browsing. For each notice, the customer will have to acknowledge that they understand the notice. A repeat offender’s internet account will not necessarily be shut down unless the provider terms of service are violated.

Internet providers are hoping to profit by providing a music and video variety to customers. It seems I.S.P’s not only want to provide Internet access, but to distribute content as well.

Many media groups agree that this process would be a more effective way of reducing piracy. Piracy has grown so much over the last 10 years and has become a way of living for many of the younger crowd. Experts have doubt that these series of alerts and punishment will prevent or shut down piracy seeing how it aims mainly for peer-to-peer file sharing tools like BitTorrent. The fact is, there are many other ways of downloading or sharing pirated copies and even ways to prevent being detected. As the industries try to become smarter on the subject, the knowledge of pirates becomes larger and better.