3 Count: Instant Gratification

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1: Comcast Developing Anti-Piracy Alternative to ‘Six Strikes’

First off today, Andrew Wallenstein at Variety reports that U.S. ISP Comcast is in the process of developing its own anti-piracy system, one that will operate in real time and will present users suspected of downloading illegal content with a popup that will direct them to legitimate alternatives for the same content.

The program is presented as an alternative to the Copyright Alert System (CAS), often referred to as the “six-strikes” system, which provides suspected pirates with multiple warnings before throttling their bandwidth. The new system would not replace the CAS but would work alongside it, providing instant feedback, as opposed to CAS alerts, which can take weeks to arrive.

Comcast says that the system is feasible but hasn’t begun work on it. Comcast has also said that it would like other ISPs to join the new program, even for a beta trial. In a comment to the post, a representative from Comcast added that the organization remains committed to the CAS and is still heavily involved in the system.

2: Grooveshark Settles EMI Publishing Lawsuit, Still Faces Uncertain Future

Next up today, Greg Sandoval at The Verge reports that the controversial music streaming service Grooveshark has settled it’s legal dispute with EMI Publishing and is expected to shortly announce that it has signed a new licensing agreement.

EMI had previously struck a similar deal with Grooveshark but, according to EMI, Grooveshark failed to make payments or provide accounting for royalties owed. That prompted EMI to join other record labels in suing Grooveshark but, in its case, for both copyright infringement and breach of contract.

However, all is not clear for Grooveshark. The streaming service, which has users upload tracks for others to stream, still faces two separate lawsuits from other record labels and competition from Spotify and Pandora is also hurting the company.

3: Aereo in Middle of CBS-Time Warner Cable Blackout

Finally today, Katie Lobosco at CNNMoney reports that as the dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable grows more intense, TV streaming service Aereo may be caught in the middle, at least in two of Time Warner’s biggest markets.

Time Warner subscribers lost access to CBS Friday when they failed to reach an agreement over retransmission fees. The fight has turned especially bitter, with CBS even blocking Time Warner-based Internet users from viewing shows on CBS.com, instead directing them to anti-Time Warner ads.

Aereo, the controversial TV streaming services that uses thousands of tiny antennas to ensure each customer has their own to avoid duplicating the signal, has so far survived legal efforts by broadcasters to shut it down. However, it operates in two of the market Time Warner does, New York and Boston, offering Time Warner customers a new way to gain access to CBS, as well as other over-the-air broadcast television.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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