Survey: warnings from ISPs could slash file-swapping by 70%

[Jitway]

Filtering all Internet traffic to look for signs of illicit file-swapping has been a hugely controversial idea, criticized on grounds of privacy, efficacy, cost, and long-standing "safe harbor" principles that apply to network operators such as ISPs and phone companies. But a new study out from UK media lawyers Wiggin suggests that, if it works, such filtering could actually curtail "digital piracy" by 70 percent.

 

The finding is of special relevance in the UK, where some form of ISP filtering is currently being considered as a way to deal with the illegal trading of copyrighted material. ISPs and content owners are engaged in a voluntary negotiation over how to address the problem, but the UK government has indicated that it will legislate in April 2009 if no agreement is reached by then. The government appears to be planning something similar to the French system, which is developing a "three strikes" approach to notifying and then blocking offenders.

 

Wiggin commissioned the 2008 Digital Entertainment Survey, which found that 70 percent of all people polled said they would stop illegally sharing files if their ISP notified them in some way that it had detected the practice. When broken down by age group, an unexpected trend emerges: teenagers are generally more likely to change their behavior than older Internet users.

 

The survey showed that people would also stop sharing files if they felt that the chance of being prosecuted was higher, but that 68 percent of all users think it is "very unlikely I will be caught." Even if more stories about P2P prosecutions find their way into the mainstream press, half of all users said they would continue to share files because they perceive the total risk to be quite small. A notice system that required only a letter or a phone call instead of a full-blown legal proceeding could clearly operate more quickly and more widely, and seems to have the best chance of altering behavior.

 

Whether ISP filtering can work, and can do so while avoiding false positives and maintaining user privacy, remains an open question, and there's still debate over the idea that ISPs should (as a matter of policy) become enforcers of the copyrights for a specific industry segment. Still, the new survey suggests that if these problems can somehow be overcome, ISP notification might well have a better chance of changing behavior than legal action alone.

 

 

Ok I can speak from past experiences that this did slow me down for awhile. But did it stop me no. All it caused me to do was find more secure less watched avenues to get my fix of warez. This might work on the average say Kazaa or Limewire user but that is about all. So I find this percentage a bit over the top.

 

 

Source HERE

[Sybarite Paladin AxL]

Encryption will always prevail

[Agozer]

Slyck has some pretty interesting articles every now and then. But yeah, regarding the survey itself, I suppose it's right on the money. ISPs have more power over the average user so to speak than threats from copyright interest groups.

 

The encryption that BitTorrent uses now doesn't obfuscate the actual content, it just makes throttling more difficult. If TPB admins are to be believed, their own "new and upcoming" BT protocol incorporates heavy-duty encryption that really does encrypt stuff to the highest degree.

[Lucandrake]

Slyck has some pretty interesting articles every now and then. But yeah, regarding the survey itself, I suppose it's right on the money. ISPs have more power over the average user so to speak than threats from copyright interest groups.

 

The encryption that BitTorrent uses now doesn't obfuscate the actual content, it just makes throttling more difficult. If TPB admins are to be believed, their own "new and upcoming" BT protocol incorporates heavy-duty encryption that really does encrypt stuff to the highest degree.

 

That would be awesome, and considering stupid sh!t like this keeps poping out over the news, security is going to go up soon, so I'm going to park my ass in TPB .

[Wizard]

I've only gotten one warning from my ISP. They just told me not to download anything from Warner Brothers. No joke.

[Tynvar]

I've only gotten one warning from my ISP. They just told me not to download anything from Warner Brothers. No joke.

 

Isn't it illegal though for them to release info on your browsing activities.

[Shibathedog]

My ISP has a big fat paragraph in the EULA stating they won't give out your information to anyone for any reason. They have a history of being on the users side and protecting them too, even in cases where it ends up in court. They openly encourage filesharing, and even have tutorials on their site to show you how to turn off uploading on P2P apps like Limewire so you don't get caught. (You guys know its the uploading you get in trouble for, not the downloading right?)

 

The only time they have contacted me is when they said I was almost always maxing out my bandwidth and offered me a special deal on a fat 20mbit pipe, which I couldn't afford at the time so I denied and they left me alone about it, and when they tried to sell me VoIP services, but I already have Vonage and they couldn't beat their prices, so again they promptly left me alone.

 

Awesome ISP, too bad Comcast bought out most of their areas. I should really look into that 20mbit though, my friend got it and its damn fast.