What can be more fun than RIAA? It's like the old saying "We're from the government, and we're here to help you."
Why Your Business Should Worry About the ISP Copyright Fight
"Millions of small business owners may soon realize that their Internet service could be disrupted if they're wrongly accused of illegal file sharing or downloading under the "six strikes" plan entertainment media groups announced this week."
"Wi-Fi Hijacking Risks
Small businesses that offer customers free Wi-Fi service can only claim that a customer and not the business owner illegally shared or accessed copyright-protected content one time. This means that your business could risk connectivity problems if customers repeatedly share or download copy-right protected content."
Lets face it, they're not going to go after major companies like GM. They'll hit smaller businesses and individuals that can't effectively defend themselves.
Just where is this push coming from? Aside from RIAA, MPAA, et al. Lets try;
Obama Admin Backing New Six Strikes ISP Policy
"The agreement between the five ISPs is supposedly the work of "several powerful players" led by the Obama administration including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). The White House reportedly is also heavily leveraging the threat of legislation to coerce the ISPs into sticking to the policing scheme."
Of course there's more than just that;
“The ISPs want to cooperate with Hollywood because the carriers recognize that their own growth depends in part on bundled content strategies,” said Eric Garland of BigChampagne, which tracks online media traffic. “They don’t want to be just utilities providing Internet access, but premium content distributors as well.”
At this point we have this statement;
"Again, users won't be disconnected permanently, and their personal information will not be forwarded to copyright holders. That said, the ISPs reaffirmed that they still retain their right to cut off any user who violated their terms of service."
On the other hand: when they passed the Social Security System (in the US) it specifically stated that under no circumstances would your SS number be used as an ID. Right, that never happened.
When they passed driver seat belt laws (again, in the US), they said that it would never be used as a primary cause to stop your vehicle. Right, that never happened.
Early US copyright law limited copyright to
"a term of "fourteen years from the time of recording the title thereof", with a right of renewal for another fourteen years if the author survived to the end of the first term." WTF happened?
"We're from the government, and we're here to help you." Sure.
On the bright side;
"The challenge is that consumers will continue to do whatever they wish on the Internet, and find clever ways to not attract the attention of the content companies or ISPs,” Garland said. "It will never end."
My take on all this, is that you should;
- Set up the highest security encryption you can on your WiFi router.
- Adjust the power/range on your router. Mine is set to 1/4 output. I have the full speed, but the curb side connection is unusable.
- Set the router to not broadcast the WiFi network name.
If someone can connect to your router it will be near impossible for the average Joe to prove that they didn't do whatever they’re accused of.