"Six Strikes" Copyright Law Goes into Effect Today

ISPs will have to send warnings before throttling service

The Copyright Alert System goes into effect starting today, which gives internet service providers the power to issue six strikes to it users before throttling your internet. It sounds pretty intense and lenient at the same time, since six strikes is quite a few times to screw up before the ISP calls it enough.

Essentially, the Copyright Alert System is just the latest implementation in a line of anti-piracy initiatives, and it works in the same fashion as past systems have worked. Movie studios and music labels will join public P2P networks to see if their content is being pirated, and if it is, they'll contact the ISP. From there the ISP will contact the offender and issue a strike.