Gizmodo: content filtering

Net Neutrality Shouldn't Extend to Illegal Acts, Says FCC Comissioner

Kit Eaton — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:20:51 EDT

One of the FCC's five commissioners, Jonathan Adelstein, said during a recent symposium on FCC Internet Video Policy that the FCC's rules shouldn't permit "illegal acts." Sure, illegal downloading is a serious problem, especially if you're a copyright-holding movie studio. But does that mean the FCC is actually against net neutrality, in general?

Adelstein half dodged that with a question: "The problem is, how can you ever tell what's illegal?" Well you can't, not without some serious filtering and snooping by ISPs, and a lot of wrangling over whether uploading or downloading is deemed piracy. And what about telling the difference between illegally sharing a movie from a big studio, and sharing an independently-produced movie designed for P2P sharing? Clearly, the FCC isn't comfortable going all in for content filtering, at least not yet.

We'll just have to watch to see what this implies for the final net neutrality guidelines. [Ars Technica]

RIAA Wants Your Anti-Virus Software to Screen Your Downloads for Pirated Content

matt buchanan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:25:18 EST

Content filter version one: A massive, network-wide dragnet. Not really feeling that Big Bro deal, even though RIAA chief Cary Sherman says it "doesn't give rise...to any privacy concerns because it can operate automatically and anonymously"? It's cool, there's a better approach: A locally installed filter on your computer.

As a bonus, a local filter would defeat encrypted torrents, since you've gotta decrypt 'em, at which point the filter would kick in. Sherman is a smart cookie though, and knows people aren't just gonna sign up to have their machine lojacked:

"Why would somebody put that on their machine? They wouldn't likely want to do that, they'd do that when it benefits them such as for viruses and so on and so forth...it could be enforced at the modem or put in by the ISP."

I've got nothing here. [Public Knowledge via Broadband Reports]

Verizon Says F-U To Hollywood Piracy Snitching

Adrian Covert — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:45:07 EST

Hollywood wants ISPs such as Verizon to help filter and block the illegal transfer of copyrighted content. Unlike AT&T, Verizon is telling Hollywood to kiss its ass. Verizon EVP of Public Affairs Tom Tauke says they won't consider Hollywood's call to action for three reasons.

First, it opens the door for other organizations to make demands as to what should and shouldn't be allowed. Verizon doesn't feel the internet should be excessively policed. Second, it sets a precedent that would make networks and service providers liable for future cases where they fail to block content. Third, Verizon sees content filtering as an invasion of privacy, and they try to balance the wishes of customers with the necessity for content protection. Amen. [NY Times]