Source: http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/93135

The US Net civil rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation
(EFF) has warned Internet Service Providers against helping media groups
by turning into "copyright cops." Fred von Lohmann, the EFF's senior
legal adviser on copyright issues, told the online edition of the
technology magazine Technology Review that such behavior can very
quickly put one in a tricky bind: "Anybody with a bit of technical
know-how will tell you that it is more or less impossible to prevent the
exchange of data -- anyone out to violate copyright will simply come up
with a cleverer method to avoid detection." In the meantime the
providers would be dragged into an endless vicious circle of ever more
intense, indiscriminate monitoring of Internet traffic. "That is bad for
the protection of privacy and will moreover prevent technical
innovation, because enormous amounts of resources will have to be
invested to pull it off," Mr. von Lohmann declared.

The recent criticism of the EFF was prompted by the plans of the major
US Internet Service Provider AT&T to deploy in future, without having
been forced to do so, in-depth internal-network filters against online
piracy -- thereby reversing the common practice of Internet Service
Providers. By way of explaining its move the company had pointed to the
need to protect the interests of Hollywood and of the media groups --
the content provided by which was an indispensable ingredient of any
future Internet, AT&T had stated. Mr. von Lohmann said there was
speculation to the effect that by accommodating Hollywood AT&T was
seeking to woo it in to helping AT&T set up its own online video service.

Regarding the losses on account of online piracy, which the movie
industry puts at more than two billion US dollars annually, Mr. von
Lohmann remarked that such figures had to be viewed critically. "The
movie companies are by no means suffering to the same extent as their
colleagues from the music industry", he observed. The figures cited
frequently included those relating to commercial DVD piracy. "By
contrast, taking everything into account Hollywood is at present
experiencing the best years of its history -- in terms of both sales and
profits," he added.

Addressing the providers Mr. von Lohmann said that they needed to be
aware of "who is paying their bills": the subscribers, "not Hollywood."
The media companies had adequate means at their disposal for tracking
down violations by copyright pirates, Mr. von Lohmann declared.
"Thousands of individuals have already been sued for illegally
downloading movies. It is difficult to understand why providers should
all of a sudden have to take on the role of copyright cop," Mr. von
Lohmann said.

Source: http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/93135