...Welp. And the worst part about it is, it'll affect more people who are doing stuff legally.
For example! Let's say you like watching movies on Netflix, a 100% fully legal service. In one month, you watch 10 HD movies on Netflix, which operates via a streaming service. Streaming is basically downloading, except you don't get the file on your computer. Before this spying scheme, no one would care, except that your internet bill would be slightly higher because you were 'downloading' 25 Gigabytes or more of content.
Under this scheme, however, your ISP would see that you were 'downloading' 25+ Gigabytes of something. They have no way of knowing what exactly you're downloading and under what circumstances. There is a very good chance that they will be trigger happy. And once they are, you'll have to shell out cash in order to get your internet back, but only once or twice. Then, it's bye bye internet.
All because you like watching movies on Netflix.
And if your business has to do with uploading and downloading things (Let's say you make movies, or you're a graphics designer, or you're a programer, or any other business like that) then woe betide you.
Any time, Miss Heny. :/ I'm hoping they'll see how many people who were doing legal activities are affected by this, and then they'll repeal it. This won't deter the 'actual' pirates at all, because they use blocking services, download from offshore places, use offshore ISPs, proxies, and other such things. And, sadly enough, piracy will be expected in Internet business. But, if used right, it can be a marketing tool. Nowadays, people are more aware of if a movie is good or bad, or if a game is good or not. Many times, people on the fence will pirate the game or movie to see if it's any good. If it's good, they'll buy it. If not, they won't.
Minecraft got so famous because people pirated it. Notch, the creator of Minecraft, had no marketing done at all. It was purely word of mouth and piracy.
There are a few reasons why people pirate in general. 1. Because it's impossible to get. 2. Because it's a huge hassle to get it legally. 3. Because they want to try it out first. Give demos of games, scenes of movies, and samples of songs absolutely free to people, and you'll eliminate Reason 3. Remove DRM, piracy detecting software and the like, and make buying much easier, and you'll remove Reason 2. Add international shipping, lower prices, and more ways to buy something online (Paypal plus International Currency plus Product downloads on official websites equals a company rolling in cash) and you'll remove Reason 1.