New Anti-Piracy Alternative Proposed By Comcast

Comcast Corp., the largest cable operator in the United States is in the early phase of creating a new system to help battle online piracy.

Comcast Corp. has started preliminary discussions with film and TV studios along with other internet service providers about installing a system that can recognize when a user has downloaded illegal content and subsequently offer that user a variety of legal platforms in which they can purchase the content from.

A source close to the project described the system as scanning accounts for infringed material and once it recognizes the pirated content, a pop-up notification will be sent to the user to offer legal alternatives. It is still unknown if the legal alternatives would feature content from third parties such as Amazon and Netflix.

The new proposal will not replace the Copyright Alert System which is known for having a ‘six strikes’ layout where the user’s bandwidth can be decreased or halted. Instead it is believed  the new system would work along side CAS and compliment the program by sending real time notices to account holders rather than sending an email or browser-based message weeks after the alleged piracy took place.