AT&T has added a new invention in their anti-piracy patents portfolio. This brand new invention can detect file-sharers on the AT&T network. The network activity score places the users in the "risk class," and as a result the pirates might have their access to the in famous file-sharing sites banned. It is not known if the internet service provider AT&T would introduce this technology in the future.

The unauthorized file-sharing is rampant despite of new laws being introduced in order to curb online piracy. AT&T has devised a great way to deal with this threat.

The title of the patent is ""Methods, devices and computer program products for regulating network activity using a subscriber scoring system." TorrentFreak reported that the one of the aims of this patent to curb online piracy.

"Internet piracy may account for significant bandwidth usage, which may be problematic for a service provider," explains the company. "Thus far, copyright protection measures that have been deployed by, for example, the entertainment industry, have failed to curtail increases in Internet piracy."

"For example, millions of downloads may result from just one file that is posted on a shared network. Thus, efforts to date have been insufficient in protecting a user and/or a service provider from the results of unwanted network activity, which may pose significant risks to the user, network and/or service provider."

This new technology enables AT&T to give customers a SRS or Subscriber Rating System based on which they can be put into different risk categories.

"The SRS may be used to identify subscribers engaged, whether volitionally or otherwise, in high-risk network activities such as, for example, file sharing and/or Internet piracy. In this regard, mitigating services may be provided and the network and/or the subscriber may be protected from such high-risk network activity," explained AT&T.

If a subscriber is in the high risk category then AT&T may limit the internet access including the banned pirate sites.

AT&T has also patented ways to track content being shared through BitTorrent and various other P2P networks and report culprits to authorities. We will have to wait if AT&T would test this new patent in the market.

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