PIRACY SOLUTION UNCLEAR, BUT COMPULSORY LICENSES LOSING STEAM
The idea of compulsory licenses to compensate copyright holders for file downloads appears to be losing steam. On a panel hosted Fri. by the National Journal, Public Knowledge Pres. Gigi Sohn said she now opposed the idea: “I used to be a fan of compulsory licenses, but now I'm worried about getting the government involved… Who would pay these fees?” CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro said the idea was a “nonstarter.” Sohn said similar efforts were failing as levies on digital media in Europe hadn’t worked and had doubled prices.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Copyright holders held mostly to party lines, with the RIAA and MPAA saying some legislation was needed for content owners, while Shapiro and Sohn continued to argue against legislation. Shapiro said there was no need for digital rights management legislation because no one was physically harmed or in danger and the economic effect of downloading was debatable.
The record labels are encouraged by studies that show industry lawsuits serve as a deterrent to downloading, said Mitch Glazier, RIAA senior vp-govt. relations. He said he disagreed with Shapiro’s privacy concerns on downloading: “Privacy shouldn’t be confused with theft.” Fritz Attaway, MPAA Washington gen. counsel, said his industry worried deeply about movies’ appearing on P2P networks before theater screens. He cited concerns about video cameras at prerelease screenings, but Shapiro said studies had shown most movies traded over P2P networks came from rogue industry insiders who uploaded the movie.
Marty Lafferty, CEO, Distributed Computer Industry Assn., said the technology wasn’t advanced enough to filter legitimately licensed copyrighted works from infringing files. But he envisioned a day when file-sharing software prioritizes licensed files over copyrighted files. Glazier didn’t believe such a system would work, except perhaps for licensed pornographic files. “Why would a consumer choose a $4.95 movie when they can scroll down the list and download the same film for free?” he asked.
Sohn said many consumers were concerned about “spyware” and other privacy-invasive programs often used by P2P software applications. She said that could lead consumers to use legitimate software applications. Glazier said the business model now used by P2P software didn’t comply with the business plan Lafferty suggested, and he said he doubted it ever would.
Sarah Deutsch, Verizon vp-assoc. gen. counsel, said copyright holders needed to embrace the technology because attempts to restrict it would be like Prohibition. She said P2P software providers would move offshore and clandestine “darknets” would emerge for users to trade copyrighted files. Deutsch also said that after the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., quashed RIAA’s lawsuit against Verizon, the recording industry was looking for other places to file suit in an effort to create a split in case law.
Adam Eisgrau, exec. dir. of file-sharing software Assn. P2P United, said from the audience that only Kazaa was represented on the panel, through DCIA, and that file-sharing service didn’t represent the industry. He said P2P United members operated under a code of conduct and said that Congress needed to study the issue much more closely before considering any legislation.