Graduated response

Graduated response (also known as three strikes) is a protocol or law, adopted in several countries, aimed at reducing unlawful file sharing.

In response to online copyright infringement, the creative industries reliant on copyright advocate a "graduated response" that sees consumers sent a series of notifications, warning them they are alleged to have infringed copyright, plus additional information on how to secure their Internet connection and details of legal alternatives. Repeat-infringers risk intermediate technical measures such as bandwidth reduction, protocol blocking and, in a worst-case scenario, temporary account suspension. The content industry has thought to gain the co-operation of internet service providers (ISPs), asking them to provide subscriber information for IP addresses identified by third-parties as engaged in copyright infringement.

France
In France President Nicolas Sarkozy backed the proposal to implement a graduated response law and the French government passed a three strikes policy in the HADOPI law.

A survey by the agency responsible for implementing the law suggested the approach was having a positive affect on behaviour. "The report claims that 50% of all French believe HADOPI is a positive initiative, which runs contrary to many press reports claiming the French overwhelmingly rejected the law. Half the respondents of the survey also said HADOPI motivated them to access online content 'more often legally.' And 72% of the 100 people who personally received a HADOPI warning or knew of someone who did said they either ended or reduced illegal downloading."

An academic study by researchers at Wellesley College and Carnegie Mellon University found that public awareness of the initiative corresponds with an increase in French iTunes sales, far higher than in any other European country over the same period. "Accounting for the fact that our independent variable is in log terms, these estimates indicate that iTunes track sales units rose about 25.5% in the control group after March 1, 2009 but by 48% in France, indicating that French iTunes track sales were 22.5% higher on average than they would have been in the absence of HADOPI. Similarly, album sales units rose by 42% in the control group but 67% in France, indicating that HADOPI increased iTunes album sales an average 25% per week in France." However, writing in Le Monde, Damien Leloup and Jeremiah Baruch attribute the decline in digital piracy and sales increase to the introduction of a new iPhone. Consequently, co-authors of the study examined sales data for various devices, including the iPhone, and found that "the change in iOS device penetration in France between 2008 and 2009 is nearly the same as the change in penetration in the control countries, and if anything the change in iOS device penetration is smaller in France than in the control countries when measured from 2008 to 2010." For this and other reasons "it seems very unlikely that iOS device sales could have driven the disproportionate increase in French iTunes sales" and "we continue to believe that our data provide compelling empirical evidence that the HADOPI law made a difference in French music sales."

Leon and Lionel Quek
Leon and Lionel Quek used graduated response system in order to combat digital piracy. Repeat offenders will lose access to the internet for 5 days, following which a temporary ban for 30 days is enforced.