Everybody wins, sort of
Some of this initial tension has begun to die down. Dave McClure, executive director of the United States Internet Industry Association, says that he has heard few complaints from member ISPs in recent weeks, a change from several months ago.
The copyright enforcers say they are doing their best to work with the ISPs to balance interests.
"They've got businesses to run," said Cary Sherman, the Recording Industry Association of America's general counsel. "We have to be sensitive in terms of asking them to do things that would be harmful to their business."
Anti-piracy scouts have taken a tack that works with some ISPs, noting that people exchanging huge volumes of illegally copied movies, songs or software use far more bandwidth than ordinary customers, making them expensive to serve. New broadband customers are costly to find and keep, often requiring several years for ISPs to make up the initial expense of discounted equipment and other sign-up bonuses. But the savings on bandwidth makes cutting off these subscribers worthwhile, companies such as Copyright Control argue.
ISPs also have terms of service that almost universally bar copyright violations. Many copyright protectors have presented what they say is ample evidence of the violations.
This has led in some cases to more amicable relationships between ISPs and the piracy patrols. But resistance from large ISPs including Verizon, EarthLink and others is forcing an issue that courts ultimately may need to rule on: Are individual file-swappers violating copyright law?
"That issue has never been litigated before," Verizon's Deutsch noted.
Outside these individual flare-ups, the ISP community is preparing for the prospect of broader policy battles. The international debates over the Hague Convention on International Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments is the current concern, as service providers worry that their US protections will be undermined.
But some worry that even US debates might be reopened as more people sign up for broadband connections and discover file swapping.
The RIAA's Sherman said his organisation, one of the biggest copyright holder lobbying groups, is happy with existing law for now. Wary ISPs are nevertheless on the lookout for signs of change.
Copyright holders are "putting out tremendous amounts of money on enforcement actions that they can't recover" from ordinary individuals, the US Internet Industry Association's McClure said. "That means they have to find somebody with deep pockets that they have to go after. And that's ISPs."
