The Center for Copyright Information has revealed more details in a blog post today about its “six strikes” system, which it calls the Copyright Alert System (CAS), and announced that CAS will begin “in the coming weeks”. They noted that the process will use a system run by MarkMonitor to identify infringing activity and that the mitigation stages (strikes five and six) will be administered through the American Arbitration Association ($35 for an appeal which is refunded if you win). The five major ISPs (AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon) will begin rolling out their systems within the next two months. These ISPs will pass on to their subscribers notices sent by copyright owners alleging copyright infringement over peer-to-peer networks. They were quick to point out that “termination of a consumer’s Internet service is not a part of any ISP’s Copyright Alert System program”. In other words, there are six strikes but no “strikeout”.

CCI explained how the system works:

“The system uses both trained professionals and automated processes to identify illegal downloading of whole movies, TV shows, and musical recordings, and the system is designed to eliminate false positives.”

The word “whole” was emphasized in CCI’s blog post seemingly implying that partial video and music clips would fall outside of the rules for infringing content.

CCI also noted that “no personal consumer information will be obtained by MarkMonitor or content owners either in generating the notices or in passing them on to consumers” meaning IP addresses will be key (get ready for a spike in TOR usage).

They pointed out a “significant feature” of the CAS system – the ability for consumers to seek review of alerts that they feel were sent in error.

“The review system will allow consumers to ask a trained, impartial professional at AAA (American Arbitration Association) to review alerts fairly and confidentially, while honoring their expectation of privacy.”

And to make the whole thing sound user friendly and beneficial to all parties (let’s all hold hands and sing):

“We have worked to understand the best ways to help consumers move away from illegal use of peer-to-peer networks and embrace the ever increasing ways to enjoy digital content both online and off. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make sure that the system is thorough and consumer friendly. We think we’ve achieved that goal, and we’re ready to begin this next phase.”

Actually, it does give you warm and fuzzy feeling…