What if there was a copyright enforcement policy and the Internet didn’t break?

In July of 2011, several Internet Service Providers announced a “Memorandum of Understanding” with major entertainment industry groups. In this memorandum, ISPs agreed to implement a “graduated response” program to educate and potentially penalize internet users suspected of sharing or downloading unauthorized copyrighted material. Fast-forward to last week, when the Copyright Alert System (CAS) was officially activated under the auspices of the newly-formed Center for Copyright Information (CCI).

In today’s political and cultural environment, any policy — voluntary or otherwise — involving the internet and content companies is bound to provoke a reaction. Reponses to the launch ran the gamut from “meh” to what can only be described as paranoia. So is the CAS a cabal of corporate interlopers out to thwart internet freedom, or a meaningful way of dealing with an issue that has bedeviled rightsholders and artists for close to fifteen years? […]