Copyright owners’ expectation that ISPs help them protect their rights is not unjustified. But any protection mechanism must be based on a balance between the copyright owner’s right to protect his work and the user’s rights. Users’ rights include procedural fairness such as being notified before content is taken down, and being given an opportunity to protest that take down. Some have suggested that the notice and take-down procedures be amended so that user’s are notified before content is taken down and offered an opportunity to provide a counter notice. Also, Public Knowledge has suggested as part of its six point program for copyright reform that copyright holders who “knowingly or recklessly” send false take down notices should be punished. Current law only punishes copyright holders for “knowingly” sending false notices.
In addition, rules to prevent infringement should take to into account that the Internet is an essential means of communication in today’s world. It is used for myriad purposes including banking, shopping, telephony, exchange of scientific information, expression of political views and much more. Industry moves to prevent copyright infringement on the Internet through filtering techniques should be monitored by the government to prevent abuse of the basic right to Internet access.