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French disconnection to hit U.S. web users? - December 5, 2007

Speaking at a UBS AG media conference Tuesday, MPAA chief Dan Glickman predicted that Internet service providers will "be in the forefront" of future efforts to keep unlicensed copyrighted content off their networks, a not terribly daring forecast given what we already know about ISPs' intentions (an archived webcast of his remarks is available here).

AT&T has already said it will work with the content companies to come up with tools to filter copyrighted content from its network, and other media executives have boasted in the past that they expect most of the other leading U.S. ISPs to follow AT&T's lead.

But the media companies' co-opting of broadband access providers may not stop at filtering. According to NBC Universal general counsel Rick Cotton, U.S. ISPs are close to an agreement on a "voluntary" plan to cut off Internet access to incorrigible illegal downloaders.

Referring to a recent proposal by a French government commission to adopt a three-strikes policy for illegal downloaders, after which they can lose their Internet access, Cotton told Media Wonk, "I think you're going to see U.S. ISPs follow the French example."

Asked to clarify whether he just thinks we'll see such a move or he knows we will, Cotton said, "Well, let's say, I predict you'll see them follow the French example."

In addition to his role at NBC Universal, Cotton has spearheaded efforts by the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to enlist the help of transportation and communications companies in preventing the use of their facilities for the transport of counterfeit or pirated goods. Discussions with ISPs about cracking down on illegal downloads have been a major focus of those efforts.

The proposal to cut off Internet access to illegal downloaders has already drawn fire in France because it invests the power to determine who will or won't have their plug pulled in a non-judicial government agency, a possible violation of the French constitution, according to its critics.

In the U.S., the media companies and ISPs would likely seek to avoid a similar constitutional issue by framing the plan as a "voluntary" program adopted by the ISPs, giving them the final authority to decide whom to cut off.

It's unlikely that will be enough to silence critics, however.
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