( December 14, 2012 ) — Sophomore Azat Sarkisyan, a longtime user of Verizon, said that he finds it crazy that Internet Service Providers are monitoring users. “Users have the right to remain anonymous,” he said. However, in recent years, there has been a rise in torrenting, or downloading and sharing files from other people. Whether it be music, movies or games, nearly anything digital can be torrented now off sites such as The Pirate Bay. This, however, means that people can download things that they would normally have to pay for without actually paying. Also, because this process can be done anonymously, torrenting has caused problems for movie and music companies. Recently, many movie and music companies have proposed a deal with ISP users known as the “Six Strikes” copyright protection system. With “Six Strikes,” if an Internet Service Provider suspects that one of their users is torrenting illegally, that provider will send a warning to the user. After six “strikes,” or warnings, that user will have his or her services terminated. The most controversial part of this agreement is how the ISP’s will find out if their users are torrenting. Using third-party tools, providers like AT&T and Verizon can monitor users without their permission and give them warnings even if they only suspect that someone is torrenting illegally. “It’s outright crazy,” said Sarkisyan. “How can they monitor users without their permission? It’s a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.” Earlier in 2012, bills were proposed in the Senate which were similar to the “six strikes” rules. These bills were SOPA and PIPA, anti-piracy bills that would have put anyone that is under suspicion of torrenting under arrest. Neither bill passed, however, and copyright owners were still looking for a way to limit torrenting or punish torrenters. The “six strikes” rules may just be their answer, but negotiations are still underway and they have yet to be passed. A final decision was supposed to have been made on Nov. 28 by the providers and the companies that proposed this, but because of many factors, like superstorm Sandy, the policy will be up around early 2013.