Copyright alert system in full swing.

• Position: COPYRIGHT

Internet service providers (ISPs) sent out more than 1.3 million copyright infringement alerts during the first 10 months of the new U.S. Copyright Alert System (CAS), which launched in February 2013. AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon sent the notices as part of the new "six strikes" alert system. The alerts graduate from a warning to "final mitigation," which could include bandwidth throttling, site restriction, or educational classes, depending on the ISP, reported Forbes.

The Center for Copyright Information (CCI) administers the program, which was a voluntary initiative launched by CCI and its member ISPs, entertainment community representatives, and the Consumer Advisory Board. It aims to reduce copyright infringement over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.

"It is built simultaneously to encourage consumers to embrace the growing number of affordable licensed sources of films, music, and television programming content available online from a variety of different services and in many different formats," the CCI stated in its phase one report released in May.

During this first phase, CCI sent more than 2 million notices of alleged copyright infringement to the ISPs, which then sent 1.3 million alerts over the course of the next 10 months to 722,820 account holders. More than 70% of the alerts fell into the educational category, and 8% were mitigation alerts, only 3% of...