Posted by  Tom Barger in on April 13, 2005 at 7:52 AM
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IFPI drafts 'code of conduct' for ISPsBy Charles Arthur
Published Tuesday 12th April 2005 10:57 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/12/ifpi_drafts_code_of_conduct/
Not content with creating a continent-spanning lawsuit-sharing network using special P2P (person to perpetrator) technology, the record companies' consortium, the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) now wants your ISP to sign up to a new "code of conduct" that it has helpfully drafted with the help of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). A warning, though: you probably won't like it.
Here's a sampler. Under the new code, ISPs would put in place filtering technology to block services and/or sites that "are substantially dedicated to illegal file sharing or download services". They would retain data beyond what law enforcement agencies require, with the aim of helping track down copyright infringement. They'd hand that data, plus your identity, over to the IFPI or MPA if there was even a complaint - not a court order - against you for, you guessed it, copyright infringement. (And you'd have signed or clicked something agreeing to allow that.)
Want more? According to the draft, the duo want ISPs and network operators to "enforce terms of service that prohibit a subscriber from operating a server, or from consuming excessive amounts of bandwidth where such consumption is a good indicator of infringing activities." A summary of the draft can be found at the Electronic Digital Rights site's latest EDRIgram.
We wondered if it might be some clever hoax, and called the IFPI. "Oh yes, the draft" they said breezily and knowledgeably. The draft is for real.
And to back up their modest proposal, the MPA and IFPI aren't afraid to wave their big stick at the ISPs and network operators. Speaking last month at the invitation of the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) , the head of the IFPI, John Kennedy, said: "Quality digital content is a key driver that makes consumers embrace new services. You invest billions in your pipes and cables and satellites but without content you have empty pipes and boxes. At this stage I am not even asking for much if anything by way of a financial commitment. I am asking for your time your energy your commitment and some social responsibility."
Tony Soprano couldn't have put it better. "Nice content-carrying pipes you've got here. What a shame if anything were to happen to them... now, we've got this little agreement for you to look at..."
Expect an interesting discussion next Monday, when this issue, and the draft code of conduct, will be discussed at a meeting in Geneva of WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Which as you know has a stellar record defending the little guys against claims of copyright infringement.
If all that has you fizzing, then you're in good company, along with the UK's Internet Services Providers Association (ISPA). There will be an ISPA representative at next week's meeting, and if they're anything like as annoyed as the spokesman we talked about this with, they're so close to nuclear they already glow in the dark.
"This is obviously something they [IFPI and MPA] have worked on together," ISPA's spokesman almost spat. "They have made proposals like this in the past but that doesn't necessarily mean they have gone anywhere. They should really be going through the established takedown procedure. Some of these proposals contravene current laws and go beyond others. If you take the example of requiring subscribers to allow their identities to be given out - that's something that ISPs take very seriously, and only when required to by law enforcement. And they aren't a law enforcement authority."
But sometimes it seems like the MPA and IFPI feel this latter point is only a minor detail, which could be fixed in time.
France's ISPs seemed to have rolled over already. A version of this code was signed last July by three French ministers, representatives of the music industry, major ISPs and telecoms operators there. It allows collection societies and the like to create files from telecoms traffic data of supposed copyright infringers to "mutualise the battle against the piracy of works". Some subscribers have been cut off; others have been sued for file-sharing.
In the UK, ISPA's not happy about the growing pressure. "ISPs have obligations to protect the privacy of their subscribers," said ISPA's man. "This could be seen as the thin end of the wedge to get access to everyone's organisation. But these suggestions are impossible and impractical." The idea of blocking access where someone is using a lot of bandwidth just doesn't work. What if they're using a webcam? Or voice over internet? They all use similar ports as some of the file-sharing systems. There's no real way of determining whether just because someone's using a lot of bandwidth that they're contravening copyright."
As for banning access to P2P services, ISPA's position - and remember, they'll make this next Monday - is that "it's important not to criminalise the technology. There are people who misuse the internet; that doesn't mean that you shut down the Net."
More interesting though is the question of why the ETNO invited Mr Kennedy to address its conference. Why would it want to hear from a content person, when its members have stolidly insisted, as do ISPs, that they just carry content, they don't censor or control it?
"We felt it was important," said an ETNO spokesman. "It's the beginning of a long process." Does it mean that ETNO, previously agnostic about content, is moving towards the MPA/IFPI position, where members will police content on behalf of third parties? The spokesman repeated that this was the beginning of a long process.
However, ETNO's members have reacted by telling the European Union's working party on data protection that they don't like the "constant pressure to ... create a situation where intermediaries [ETNO members] are liable for illegal content transmitted across their networks." The EU's E-Commerce Directive of 2000 is clear: there should be no "systematic obligation of surveillance or monitoring .. imposed on ISPs."
And then ETNO's man wondered where we'd heard about it, in particular Mr Kennedy's speech. "This was a closed conference, it was only the business people," he said, puzzled.
Well, perhaps those irrepressible types at the IFPI should be told. We had wanted to talk to them about it further. But regrettably they couldn't talk to us, being tied up having meetings about how they would announce the latest round of file-sharing lawsuits.
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User Comments
 compmore
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 8:42 AM
perhaps they should write a code of conduct for themselves first.
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 JLBRMECHANIC
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 8:43 AM
GUYS!!!! WAKE UP AND SPREAD THIS WORD TO EVERYBODY. THE PUBLIC HAS TO KNOW THIS.
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DeadMan2003
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 9:57 AM
This is like the entertainment industry and it's lackies trying to force the postal service to allow them to look inside every letter and parcel sent 'just in case' there is some illegal activity taking place.
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axxis
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 10:20 AM
Verizon had the balls to fight the RIAA subpoenas. Hopefully, they enough balls left to stop this.
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 gdZiemann
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 11:16 AM
A lecture from the music biz about social responsibility is like having the KKK teach civil rights.
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pepe512000
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 1:49 PM
I'm thinking filesharing control via control of ISP's is the future, and is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a whole spat of decisions being made behind closed doors. And how will they keep track of all these things????
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/opensource/barcelona-supercomputer-linux-marenostrum-42232.html
"The so-called MareNostrum computer boasts 40 teraflops of speed, which in layman's terms means it can make more calculations than a human pecking at a calculator could make in 10 million years."
"The computer is the fourth most powerful supercomputer in the world and the fastest of any installed in a government-owned research center that is accessible to outside teams of investigators."
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independentm...
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 2:06 PM
Folks, we must quickly spread the word to Internet users everywhere about this.
We should actively boycott any and every ISP who signs.
If you allow your ISP to get away with signing this 'code of conduct' it is like putting the biggest baddest DRM ever on EVERYTHING you do.
Do NOT stand for it. We MUST pressure the ISP's to do the right thing. They MUST tell the RIAA/MPAA/ETC.AA to take a flying leap, or risk loosing our business!
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independentm...
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 2:38 PM
"Brilliance is typically the act of an individual, but incredible stupidity can usually be traced to an organization." -- Jon Bentley
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JLBRMECHANIC
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 2:59 PM
hey guys, I sent this letter to several ISPs, let me know what you think:
Dear Verizon,
As a consumer it has come to my attention with the digital age and wolrd wide web ever growing, copyright holder corporations are now trying to persue legislation on a global scale based on "moral and social responsibility" which will trample a consumer's rights and privacy. The entertainment industry would like you to believe that they stand to lose a lot if ISPs do not cooperate in trying to control what people see or do with thier content which they legally purchased. It is wrong to accuse consumers of being pirates. WE ARE THE ONES WHO PAY YOU. IF WE DON'T SUPPORT YOU, YOUR BUSINESS DOES NOT SURVIVE. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. The entertainment industry has stolen and never properly credited the authors of creative works AND has lobbied VERY HARD for laws to extend copyrights to keep them from ever going into the public domain. They have also have gotten laws passed to stifle technologies which can pose a threat to thier traditional business models. They also feel that ISPs have to be the police on the net. I urge you as a consumer to fight to protect a consumer's rights against the bullying tactics of greedy corporations. WE all can agree that piracy is a problem and do not condone it. There has to be a better business model. Suing your customers and denying thier fair-use rights will make them hate and turn them away in huge numbers.
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awehr
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 3:02 PM
Shmoo: don't worry about it..
If they put filters across the whole internet p2p will simply evolve to bypass them.
Also: that whiney speech about the pipes being empty of content.. what a riot! If theyre so empty of content what are all these p2p peope doing? sharing text?
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PDMOS
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 3:46 PM
This is really stupid and makes me very angry. These guys want to control everything! I'm in an independent band and I don't want these fools pretending that they represent musicians. There is nothing wrong with people downloading mp3's , copyrighted or not. We're currently letting people download our tracks for free.
---
http://www.pdmos.tk |
independentm...
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 4:30 PM
PDMOS, do you want to be listed as a "Boycott-Riaa Certified Artist?"
Just let me know!
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independentm...
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 4:33 PM
(Also, got any links to your stuff where you don't have to sign up for e-donkey?)
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PDMOS
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 5:41 PM
I would love to be listed as a Boycott-RIAA certified artist but I would have to talk it over with the band first. Got an email so I can let you know?
I'm not a file sharing expert but I was told eDonkey was free and no sign up was required. We currently don't have the money to pay for hosting so there's no way we can post an mp3 file on our current host. Also, we were totally not prepared for a major release...but i don't want to bore you with the details on this forum.
I will definitely get back to you about being listed.
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Diogenes2
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 7:18 PM
It's practically axiomatic:
Any newly-developed weapon will get used in some way for an ill-conceived purpose.
Any newly-developed technology will attract the desire to have it be controlled in some way for a self-seeking purpose.
It's all about power -- the misuse of it.
"Brilliance is typically the act of an individual, but incredible stupidity can usually be traced to an organization." -- Jon Bentley
Very appropriate, Shmoo.
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Diogenes2
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 8:02 PM
I wrote: "...for a self-seeking purpose."
I meant: "...for a self-serving purpose."
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Capt-n-Jack
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 8:06 PM
THIS WON'T GO ANYWHERE!! NO ISP WOULD AGREE TO THIS KNOWING IT WOULD SEND POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO THE COMPETITION!!!
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 thedeleter
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Date: April 13, 2005 @ 11:03 PM
yeah i am aprt of the staff of a midject record label, beign that i also have a band on it. whos name is not owrth mentiong over htis .. most badns are also free to dl on antoehr site similar to this one becuase artists choose to allowe peopel to hear them so they know they wiill be worth buying... i mean oh no.. legal distrubation of music on sites liek this.... people realising they dont need to jump horuhg hoops of pop culture or certian normalities music wise to be entertainig and enjoyable.. crap what if society finds out most of what you hear on the radio is crap and there is alot more better music out there.. might that ruine the riaas money hungry schemes?!?!? bands not having copyrights protected b y htem?! what if thse bands tell fans about the slaughter of indivisuality from being on some riaa loving label...
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