As far as contemporary conspiracy theories go, it pales in comparison to the one about an insidious plot to create a single international currency, but there's a "fresh wave of speculation" that ISPs have cut a deal with the entertainment industry to "to shut off service to people suspected of illegally downloading copyrighted content."
From Kenneth Corbin of
InternetNews.com:
After some media reports sounded the alarm that ISPs might be planning
to shut down service to subscribers suspected of infringement after
issuing warnings -- a so-called "three strikes" policy -- the providers are
now speaking out to quash that notion.
The issue flared up earlier this week, according to Corbin, when
several executives from major ISPs were part of a panel discussion at
the Leadership Musical Digital Summit in Nashville on their industry's
role in fighting copyright infringement.
Comcast public policy attorney Joe Waz writes in the company's new blog:
"No American ISP (including Comcast) that I know of is talking about a
so-called 'three strikes and you're out' law or process," Waz said.
"While we have always supported copyright holders in their efforts to
reduce piracy under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and
continue to do so, we have no plans to test or implement a so-called
'three strikes and you're out' policy."
Corbin writes that the issue first arose in December when the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced "it would stop suing Internet users for illegal file sharing, moving
instead to the 'graduated response' system, pejoratively dubbed three
strikes."
Under that scheme, the RIAA said it would lean on ISPs to combat
illegal file sharing by sending out warning letters to suspected
infringers. The letters would carry the imprimatur of the ISP, a subtle
but important departure from the dictates of the 1998 DMCA, which
required providers to forward along cease-and-desist notices it
received from copyright owners. Critics have warned
that the direct involvement of the ISP in the process could lead down a
slippery slope where content filtering and privacy invasions through
techniques like deep-packet inspection become the norm.
David Deliman, a spokesman for Cox Communications, told InternetNews.com that the provider "has not signed an agreement with RIAA and we do not have a 'three strikes' policy."
Despite the ISPs' denials, don't expect this rumor to go away soon. The RIAA is
continuing its efforts to get ISPs to agree to the "three strikes" rule, and the ISPs' efforts to refute the speculation are fairly limited: "we have no plans," "has not signed an agreement," no deal with RIAA "at this time." Unless I'm missing something, I'm not see an "it ain't gonna happen" in the bunch.
Stay tuned.
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