Verizon says it was misquoted on piracy bans

In response to yesterday's report that telecommunications provider Verizon has cut off some people from the Internet due to illegally sharing files, a spokesperson tells BBR this hasn't happened yet. Bobbi Henson says she was misquoted, adding that while the company reserves the right to cut off heavy users or pirates, it has not done so, and that there is no bandwidth cap at Verizon.

As for piracy, DMCA letters that urge users to cease and desist illegal sharing activities have not resulted in any of them being cut off, but they have curbed the behavior, she said.

It's suspected that in many cases these warnings are simply designed to scare certain users rather than to actually enforce disconnections. Cutting off users entirely would trigger legal repercussions as media labels would have to provide legal evidence of violations and risk lawsuits. Financially, it would also be damaging to carriers as customers could simply switch to an Internet provider that doesn't disconnect its users.

By Electronista Staff