BigChampagne's Ultimate Chart (a/o February 10th):
1. “What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger),” Kelly Clarkson
2. “Set Fire to the Rain,” Adele
3. “Turn Me On,” David Guetta
4. “Rack City,” TYGA
5. “Good Feeling,” Flo Rida
6. “Smooth Criminal (Glee Cast Version),” Glee Cast
7. “Young, Wild & Free,” Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa
8. “Domino ,” Jessie J
9. “Sexy and I Know It,” LMFAO
10. “Ass Back Home ,” Gym Class Heroes
Is AT&T now participating in a three-strikes disconnection plan, or sending takedown notices to subscribers? Absolutely not, according to an AT&T executive speaking on the record with Digital Music News on Wednesday. "We are not issuing 'takedown notices,' nor are we participating in a 'three-strikes' plan," AT&T executive director Michael Balmoris firmly stated.
Starting late Tuesday, reports in both C|Net and Billboard suggested that AT&T was joining forces with the RIAA and aggressively policing its subscribers. On Wednesday, Billboard pointed to "participation in an RIAA program designed to send account deactivation warning notices," and "involvement in [a] 'graduated response' strategy". The C|Net report pointed to the use of takedown notices.
Not quite, though some letters are being mailed as part of a softer, cooperative approach. "We are trialing an effort that's about customer education and deterrence," Balmoris continued. "Also, since this effort is about customer education and deterrence, we are not suspending or terminating our customers' service. With that said, we do refer customers to our Acceptable Use Policy, which governs use of our service."
Additionally, AT&T is now forwarding notices from content owners to subscribers, a pass-through policy. "Last week, we began forwarding notices from content providers to our customers," Balmoris continued. "In forwarding the notices, we do not make any accusation of wrongdoing, or assume illegal activity. And, we do not disclose the names and addresses of any of our customers, unless we're ordered to do so with a court subpoena."
Balmoris noted that in most cases, a gentle nudge does the trick, part of the philosophy driving an industry-wide, letter-writing agreement in the UK. "Our experience has been that the majority of our customers stop the questionable behavior, and some have even contacted us to thank us for the notifications because they were unaware of the illegal downloading," the executive noted.
Who else? Major ISPs Comcast and Cox are also reportedly sending letters, according to comments from executives at the Leadership Music Digital Summit in Nashville, as relayed by C|Net. The exact details surrounding those letters are still being learned, though both groups have reportedly mailed more than several hundred thousand notices each.
Comments Closed
OUR SPONSORS
© 2011 All Rights Reserved
Follow Us