Canadians who use unauthorized downloads will have a new clamp down come the new year as beginning in January, internet service providers (ISPs) will be obligated to notify their customers of any copyright infringement allegations from copyright holders.
In the past ISPs had a choice in the matter of notification, but thanks to some modernization in the Canadian Copyright Act, that will change to become a legal requirement.
So essentially a copyright holder will provide an internet service provider with notification that an IP address (an Internet Protocol address that is assigned to each computer for identification purposes) has illegally downloaded some material…and then the provider is required to notify the customer with that IP address.
This method with the Internet Service Provider acting as a middleman will still protect your privacy… at least for now, from the copyright holders as they have no way of getting more than the IP address information.
Some of the big copyright holders that have sought out infringement violations to date include names like: Universal, Microsoft, and NBC Universal, to name a few.
Are we shocked? Not really. We all know if it seems to good to be true…..it probably is.
SOURCE: Leader Post, Wiki
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Previously, ISPs had the choice of telling their customers that a major record label suspected they engaged in unauthorized downloading. Provisions within the federal government’s Copyright Modernization Act, which will take effect starting January, make the notice system legally required.
