Verizon is terminating internet service to an unknown number of repeat copyright scofflaws, a year after suggesting it was not adopting a so-called graduated-response policy.

While it was not immediately clear whether other internet service providers were following suit, the move comes as the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America are lobbying ISPs and Congress to support terminating internet access for repeat, online copyright offenders.

All the while, the United States has been privately lobbying the European Union to "encourage" so-called three strikes policies, according to leaked documents surrounding a proposed international intellectual property accord.

Verizon was not immediately prepared to comment in detail on the developments, first reported by CNET, or to detail how many of its more than 8 million broadband subscribers it has terminated – although CNET said the number was "small." The RIAA declined comment.

"We reserve the right to do that," Verizon spokeswoman Bobbi Henson said in a telephone interview regarding the terminations. The next day, it "disputed" the accuracy of CNET's story.

The RIAA announced a year ago it was winding down its litigation campaign against individual file sharers, about 30,000 lawsuits in all. Instead, the music industry's lobbying and litigation arm said it would rely on a series of accords it had reached with "leading" internet service providers, in which ISPs have agreed "on principle" to shut off internet access to customers the RIAA catches file sharing repeatedly.

At that time, in a Jan. 5, 2009 interview, Verizon spokeswoman Ellen Yu said that, in reference to the RIAA announcement: "We are not working with them on this."

Cara Duckworth, an RIAA spokeswoman, said the same day that "We have an agreement on principle with several leading ISPs but not all, and the agreement on principle is confidential."

Other than Verizon, none of the leading ISPs have acknowledged practicing what the content industry is calling "graduated response." Under Verizon's plan, the ISP notifies customers that unlawful file sharing allegedly is taking place on their accounts – file sharing discovered by the RIAA or other intellectual property holders who actively police networks and IP addresses. Internet service could be terminated perhaps after several warnings.

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