A long-expected counter-piracy program that will result in Internet users receiving alerts and potential service disruptions to deter them from illegally downloading content is confirmed to be phasing in Monday with additional roll-outs throughout the week.

The "Copyright Alert System," or CAS, will allow content owners to monitor peer-to-peer networks for illegal downloading or uploading. Content owners can then notify accused users' Internet service provider about the illegal activity, which then alerts the primary account owner on which the activity was detected. CAS is a product of a partnership between Internet Service Providers and the entertainment industry known as the Center for Copyright Information, or CCI.

CAS has six levels of content theft alerts carrying increasing levels of severity, earning the program the nickname "Six Strikes."

The first two alerts come in the form of innocuous emails letting the account owner know of the activity and suggesting alternate legal ways to download content. The next two alerts are more stern, requiring account owners to acknowledge receipt of the alert. If those first four alerts fail to deter illegal downloading, the fifth and sixth alerts contain "mitigation measures," which range at ISPs' discretion from mandatory copyright tutorials to 48-hour severe reductions in Internet speed. No ISP will completely terminate Internet service under CAS, regardless of the number of strikes an account holder racks up.

The counter-piracy regime includes a rebuttal mechanism: Primary account holders can appeal allegations of illegal downloading for a $35 fee. Should they win their appeal, that fee — which is ostensibly to avoid frivolous appeals — is waived. Customers who prove financial hardship can also have the fee waived.

The program, which has largely been kept under wraps and experienced a months-long delay, has been criticized on several fronts. Privacy and freedom of access are among the most oft-heard concerns: Should content providers be allowed to monitor consumers' behavior? Should ISPs be able to throttle the Internet speeds of paying customers? And what will happen if content owners and Internet users disagree over the legality of a download?

Hoping to preempt privacy concerns, CCI's informational video about CAS stresses that "personal information" about users "is not detected or shared," but the system does use Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to determine infringing users' ISP. Several top privacy advocates sit on CCI's advisory board, which CCI claims on its website will protect Internet users' "important free speech and privacy rights."

Additionally, CCI Executive Director Jill Lesser deflected criticism about Internet service slowdowns as punishment for copyright infringement in a recent On The Media interview.

"No, it really isn't the same," said Lesser when asked if a dramatic reduction in Internet speed is equivalent to cutting off service completely.

"The reduction in speed, which one or more of the ISPs will be using as a mitigation measure, first of all it's only 48 hours, which is far from termination," Lesser said. "I think at the point where you have received ... your fifth copyright alert, you have acknowledged two of them, and you are still engaged in copyright infringement, than that person might need an extra, 'You know, you really need to stop.'"

Lesser also said it's up to content providers to deal with people who continue to pirate content beyond the sixth strike, vaguely hinting at a mechanism embedded in CAS that allows content owners to engage in "copyright infringement actions" (translation: lawsuits) against users undeterred by CAS' efforts to put an end to their illegal behavior.

"There are certainly other ways that content owners address those issues, but for us, it's reaching the casual infringer, which is a large percentage of peer-to-peer piracy," she said.

A representative for Comcast, which is rumored to be among the first ISPs to implement CAS, confirmed to Mashable that it is indeed implementing CAS but would not comment on timing.

Mashable is in contact with a variety of CAS stakeholders. Stay with us for the latest information as more about the program is uncovered. Have a question about CAS? Leave it in the comments below, and we'll do our best to answer in future reporting.

Photo via iStockphoto, Matt_Brown