Internet service providers in the United States have outlined a warning system aimed at curbing illegal downloading.

Major ISPs across the pond, like Comcast and AT&T, have joined forces with the key US music and movie industry bodies in order to clamp down on the rampant online piracy

The planned 'Copyright Alert' notification system would send a warning each time a user downloads pirated material and would give each account holder six strikes against their name.

After the sixth infringement, the ISP would consider introducing "mitigation measures" like slowing download speeds as a punishment.

No shut off

However, broadband providers would not shut off the user's account. nor would they pass over the names of offenders to the entertainment companies, who would then drag them through the courts.

Internet users would also have the option to appeal if they think they have been singled out unfairly.

The ISPs and content providers are planning to form a new group called the Center for Copyright Information in order to educate the online community about the new system.

"Consumers have a right to know if their broadband account is being used for illegal online content theft, or if their own online activity infringes on copyright rules - inadvertently or otherwise - so that they can correct that activity," said James Assey of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

Google is teaming up with research company Kantar to measure TV and online activity in the UK, to better understand how media is consumed in the United Kingdom.

The research sounds very similar to what the Broadcaster's Audience Research Board (BARB) is doing – although BARB is positioning itself as the official measurer of online TV content in the UK.

Google is hoping to analyse 3,000 households (the panel is opt-in) and make the data available at some point.

It is thought that this data will be used to find ways to bring the right sort of ad campaigns to each platform.

Welcome new efforts

According to Campaign magazine, Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau, said about the study: "Between them, TV and online command 50 per cent of total media spend in the UK.

"The Internet Advertising Bureau always welcomes new efforts to understand how consumers are using the internet and how online channels work in conjunction with other media."