I thought civil copyright infringement needed to be determined in court. How, then can ISPs be expected to be the judge? If I download a single Madonna song for personal use, then Madonna can sue me for civil copyright infringement. I assume the state can't sue me for criminal copyright infringement because it is not criminally illegal. The NET act is simply an alteration of the US copyright code, title 17 chapter 5: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html .

I assume that if Madonna's representative sues me civilly for copyright infringement, and wins, then the ISP can then terminate me as a customer, but not before.

This is what RIAA has to say about this issue:

"The DMCA law also delineates the responsibilities of Internet service providers (ISPs) in cases of infringement online. For example, the law formalizes a notice and takedown procedure between ISPs and copyright owners. It is now clear that when an ISP is aware it is posting or transmitting infringing content, the ISP must act to remove the infringing works or it may be liable for any resulting damages."

http://www.riaa.com/issues/copyright/laws.asp

It's like me accusing someone of making harrassing phone calls to me and expecting the phone company to stop the accused's service. How is this legal?

I'm not planning on taking action, this is just curiosity.