However, that doesn’t mean that the ISP is a safe haven for pirates, far from it. The provider has decided to stay on course and stick with its own program that is said to be quite effective in dealing with repeat copyright infringers.

“Cox Communications has a longstanding notice program that we enacted more than 10 years ago. The processes we have in place work to address this important issue and provide a balanced approach for our customers and the copyright holders,” Cox spokesman Todd Smith tells TorrentFreak.

Much like the Copyright Alert System, Cox also works with various “strikes”, keeping track of the number of DMCA notices received for a particular subscriber.

“The name of our program is ‘Cox Graduated Response’ and is not affiliated with the Copyright Alert System (CAS) announced by the RIAA/MPAA,” Smith explains.

The process works as follows: when a second DMCA notice is received for an account the subscriber gets a warning via email or a browser notification. Through these notifications the customers are informed about the allegedly infringing activity and are given the opportunity to call Cox to discuss the issue.

Should the infringements continue, subscribers have their Internet connections interrupted and are unable to browse the Internet until they take action.

“If we receive between two to four more complaints, the customer is placed in a ‘walled garden’. We ask them to call our Customer Safety Department to discuss and to regain access to the Internet,” Smith explains.

The notification that informs users about the temporary Internet restriction looks as follows.

After ten or more strikes the subscriber enters the mysterious last phase of the graduated response program.

“If we receive 10 to 12 complaints, our Customer Safety Department will evaluate the situation and work with the customer to find a solution to the complaints,” Smith tells TorrentFreak.

Cox did not confirm or deny that users could be permanently disconnected at this stage. We were informed by the ISP that “it is very rare that we reach this level” and that “the resolution would be evaluated on a case by case basis.”

Previously, Cox customer service did confirm that permanent disconnections are an option, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they are considered. This would also be in line with Cox’s acceptable use policy.

Similar to the Copyright Alert System, Cox isn’t actively monitoring its customers. They merely collect and respond to DMCA complaints submitted by copyright holders. At any stage subscribers are free to file a counter-notification if they are wrongfully accused.

All in all we can conclude that Cox’s program is not all that different from the Copyright Alert System. Cox gives its subscribers a few more strikes, but unlike the other ISPs it leaves open the option for a permanent disconnection.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Comcast was slapped by the FCC last year for a similarly unfair treatment of BitTorrent users, but Cox managed to get away relatively unscathed, even though it was using the same TCP RST packet forging techniques. Cox has no intention of stopping the traffic slowdowns in 2009, it will just use different methods.

In February, Cox will trial a brand new throttling scheme that aims to slow down so-called “non-time sensitive” traffic when the network is congested. This includes all P2P, FTP and Usenet traffic. Although Cox announced the trials – which will start in Kansas and Arkansas – on its website, details are scarce.

For one, Cox does not explain what the definition of a congested network is, how often its users can expect to be throttled and more specifically, at what times of the day this is likely to happen. Secondly, it is currently unknown what measures Cox will actually take, and what applications will be used to slow down its customers.

Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, is also concerned with Cox’s new plans. He said in a response to the news, “The lesson we learned from the Comcast case is that we must be skeptical of any practice that comes between users and the Internet.” Indeed, network neutrality is at stake – again.

“The information provided by Cox gives little indication about how its new practices will impact Internet users, or if they comply with the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement. Cox customers will certainly want to know more about how the company is interfering with their Internet traffic and what criteria it uses to discriminate,” Scott added.

It is really disappointing to see (some) ISPs using “network congestion” as an excuse to slow down users of P2P applications using expensive traffic shaping devices, particularly as this “congestion” doesn’t seem to deter them from taking on more and more customers.

Instead, they should invest in their network infrastructure. Five years from now the demand on the network’s resources might be a ten fold increase from today’s levels. They can close their eyes and wish, but that wont make BitTorrent and other high bandwidth applications go away.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

However, it’s how they handle these requests that’s quite unique, and disturbing to say the least. Instead of sending their customer an email, notifying that they have received a DMCA takedown request on their behalf, Cox disables their Internet connection. Here is a quote from the warning page customers get to see when their Internet connection is cut off (screenshot below the article).

Under the DMCA, we have the responsibility to temporarily disable your Internet access, until such time as you take the necessary steps to remove the infringing files and to prevent further distribution of copyrighted material.

There are a couple of things wrong with this notification. First of all, and most importantly, the DMCA doesn’t oblige Cox to disable a customer’s Internet access at all. They have to notify their customer of the alleged infringement, but the measures they actually take are clearly out of proportion, and definitely not in the best interest of their customers.

Indeed, it has already led to a lot of frustration with Cox customers. One of them told TorrentFreak that he has been struggling for two days to regain his Internet access. The customer in question was instructed to call a phone number in order to resolve the issue, but it was impossible to get though for most of the day. When he finally got hold of someone via the regular customer service, he was simply told that he should call the same number he was given before.

After being on hold for more than an hour he eventually got through. The Cox customer told us what happened next: “He [Cox employee] said that he is going to allow me to have the Internet enabled for 1 hour while I ‘call my router company so they can walk me through securing my wireless network.’ If I don’t call back in the next hour, he will turn the Internet off again.”

First-time offenders will eventually get their Internet access reinstated, but not without being warned that they might lose it permanently if they receive two more takedown requests. “If it happens three times, I will be referred to their headquarters in Atlanta,” the Cox customer told us.

We contacted Cox’s customer support to verify this, and we were told that there is indeed a three strikes policy in place. When a Cox subscriber receives three takedown requests, their Internet access will be cut off entirely. Interestingly, this is the same policy that the European Parliament voted against last week, because it “restricts the rights and freedoms of Internet users.”

It turns out that Cox doesn’t need legislation to implement a three-strikes policy though. “Cox does in fact have a 3 strikes policy with regards to violations of our acceptable use policy for Internet service. If a customer’s service gets suspended 3 times for the same type of violation the customer risks having their Internet service terminated,” Cox’s customer support told TorrentFreak.

It is of course up to Cox how they handle alleged violations of their acceptable use policy. However, the problem lies in the fact that they act upon accusations made by the MPAA, RIAA and other anti-piracy organizations who employ evidence gathering methods that are shoddy, to say the least. In addition, there is still no law that requires a person to secure their wireless network and there are even routers that enable people to share their connection with outsiders.

We think that Cox clearly overstepped the mark here. Customers might not make as much noise as the lawyers of the entertainment industry, but eventually, they are the ones who bring in the money. Cox Communication currently uses the slogan “Your friend in the digital age.” Some friend…

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Last week we reported on a new and reliable tool that tests whether or not your BitTorrent traffic is being limited. The tool is developed by the Max Planck Institute, who have released new data today. The findings reveal that the BitTorrent connections of half of Comcast and Cox’s customers are being cut. In addition, the data shows that these practices take place 24/7, disproving Comcast’s earlier statement to the FCC

“Comcast’s network management practices (1) only affect the protocols that have a demonstrated history of generating excessive burdens on the network; (2) only manage those protocols during periods of heavy network traffic,” Comcast wrote in a filing to the FCC last February.

This is far from the truth. As can be seen for the graph below, there is little difference in the percentage of blocked customers throughout day. Furthermore, the data shows that there is also no difference between weekends and weekdays. BitTorrent is simply blocked all day long, no matter how busy their network is.

The Max Planck Institute tested the connections of 788 Comcast customers, 494 (62%) experienced a slowdown of BitTorrent traffic. Comcast is not alone though, well over 50% of the Cox subscribers that participated in the study were also throttled. The good news is, other ISPs don’t seem to restrict BitTorrent traffic on a wide scale.

Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, said in a response: “Consumers have no reason left to trust their cable company. This independent study confirms that Comcast is still blocking its customers from using popular applications — despite the FCC’s investigation and widespread public outrage. And worse, the harmful practice appears to be spreading through the marketplace.”

After being pressured by the press and thousands of upset customers, Comcast has announced that it will stop targeting BitTorrent transfers, (somewhere in the future) and promised to invest in its network capacity. For the time being the company will continue to throttle BitTorrent users.

We have asked the FCC for a response, but they had not yet responded at time of going to press

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.