Graduated Response Program: Let's Press the Reset ButtonBY CORYNNE MCSHERRY, Electronic Frontier FoundationEFF.org Apr. 04, 2012 |
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It can't be easy to convince millions of subscribers that there's no reason to be worried when their service providers agree to collaborate with big content to tackle online infringement -- especially when those subscribers weren't given a chance to review or comment on the deal. But yesterday's announcement of the membership of the executive and advisory boards for the Center for Copyright Information, which is in charge of implementing the "graduated response" program announced last year, seemed to be an attempt to do just that. The press release stressed the free speech credentials of the executive director and the identified the various consumer advocates who have agreed to serve on the advisory board. So, all will be fine, right? Wrong. An advisory board is just that: a group of advisors, not decisionmakers. No matter how you slice it, subscribers don't have a seat at the table now any more than they did in the earlier negotiations. For those who haven't been following this, here's a brief sampling of issues subscribers might have wanted to address, if they'd been given a chance:
The ISPs and the media groups announced the project last summer to much fanfare and criticism. But a funny thing happened on the way to the final rollout: Internet users joined together to tell policymakers and big media, in no uncertain terms, that we oppose backroom deals governing the Internet. That this deal applies to Internet access, among other things, makes it no less palatable; quite the contrary. So here's an idea: press reset. This collaboration has been years in the making, with the ISPs under heavy pressure from the content industries and government officials. It may be that they made the best deal they could under the circumstances, but since then the world has changed. If the ISPs decided to take this back to drawing board, we think their customers will stand with them, loudly and publicly -- but only if they also insist that their customers have voice in the process. |