• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, February 4, 2010

Some digital rights advocacy groups have long criticized the prospect of "three strikes" policies, which would involve Internet service providers disconnecting alleged copyright infringers. One of the major concerns is that ISPs will act as judge, jury and executioner, cutting off suspected infringers -- some of whom will almost certainly be innocent -- without giving people an adequate opportunity to defend themselves.

Today, at a hearing about the proposed Comcast-NBC merger, three-strikes opponent Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) voiced that concern. "Will Comcast continue to commit not to cut off their customers from the Internet without some sort of due process procedure," Doyle asked Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.

Roberts would not. Instead, he said that Comcast believes it can "play a constructive role in figuring out" the best way to protect consumers while also protecting copyright. While acknowledging that some people had suggested moving to a three-strikes system, Roberts said the company hadn't yet made any decisions. "Exactly what the answer is, I'm not prepared to say today that I know," he said.

That answer should trouble anyone who's been keeping track of the growing number of reports about people who've been wrongly accused of piracy. Just this week, CNET reported that Qwest suspended the service of 53-year-old subscriber Cathi Paradiso for allegedly downloading movies like "Harry Potter" and "South Park." As it turned out, someone else was using her network, but CNET reported that Qwest only sent someone to investigate after receiving a press inquiry.

And that's just one example. Several months ago, Princeton's Mike Freedman reported that a research system he runs, CoralCDN, had been the recipient of 100 letters making "demonstrably false" claims of copyright infringement.

In 2008, computer scientists at the University of Washington who were studying peer-to-peer networks said that they received more than 400 bogus takedown notices in two months. They concluded that nearly all Web users risk receiving notices alleging copyright infringement.

Beyond mistaken identifications of infringers, there are also real questions about whether someone who makes fair use of copyrighted material would be accused of infringement. Doyle himself raised that possibility last month, referring specifically to a clip that drew on the music of John Williams.

"I will oppose any effort, by Congress or by trade agreement, to cut people off the Internet," he stated at Public Knowledge's Fair Use Day. "If people are pirating movies and music, they should be punished. There are laws on the books against that illegal activity. But I don't want Corey Vidal's upload of the acapella tribute he made to the movie music of John Williams to count as a strike."