Sockfulloflove
January 17th, 2003, 03:23 PM
Source: CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/01/15/download.music.ap/index.html)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hollywood spurned a high-stakes agreement disclosed Tuesday between leading music and technology companies aiming to protect copyrights on digital movies and music without new government involvement.
The unusual compromise, brokered among the music industry and some of the largest computer companies, lists seven "guiding principles" that the companies hope lawmakers will take into account as Congress develops future technology policies.
The agreement attempts to head off government intervention in the rising debate between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over what consumers can do with commercial music or movies they purchase.
Under the agreement, technology lobbyists will argue that record companies should be permitted to use hacker-style tactics to disrupt Internet downloads of pirated music and movies. They will caution that such tactics must not be destructive to networks or to a user's computer data, and must not violate a person's privacy.
They also will argue against efforts in Congress to amend U.S. laws to broaden the rights of consumers, such as explicitly permitting viewers to make backup copies of DVDs for personal use or copy downloaded songs onto handheld listening devices.
"We don't need our heads banged together"
In exchange, the Recording Industry Association of America agreed to argue against government requirements to build locking controls into future generations of entertainment devices to make it more difficult for consumers to share music and movies. Technology companies have complained that such controls are too expensive and complex.
"What we're saying is, we don't need our heads banged together," said Hilary Rosen, chief executive for the music group. She said the agreement will help stem "needless legislative battles, silly rhetoric about what divides us and continuing disharmony in the public policy arena."
The powerful movie, television and home video industry, represented by the Motion Picture Association of America, spurned the agreement. The MPAA has aggressively supported new government requirements for built-in locking controls on new devices, such as DVD recorders.
It is the primary supporter of a bill by Sen. Ernest Hollings, a South Carolina Democrat, that would prohibit the manufacture or distribution of "digital media devices" -- such as handheld music players -- unless they include government-approved copy restriction technology. The passage of Hollings' bill has been in doubt since the 2002 election, because Republican John McCain of Arizona replaced him as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee when the GOP won the majority in the Senate.
Hollywood criticizes move
The MPAA said that despite Tuesday's agreement, it was "not prepared to abandon the option of seeking technical protection measures via the Congress or appropriate regulatory agency, when necessary." It criticized the music industry for opposing such controls, saying that "no reasonable alternative course of action should be eliminated from consideration."
The MPAA also complained Tuesday about promises by the music and technology companies to participate in "constructive dialogue." It cited plans by the technology industry to spend $1 million over the next six months on a new organization, the Alliance for Digital Progress. A bid proposal for public-relations companies said the group's ambition was to "counter Hollywood" on the debate over copyrights.
Technology executives responded that they had sought a six-month "cease-fire" on any lobbying activity during a meeting with Hollywood executives in Chicago in September.
"We thought it would be more productive without the motion-picture industry holding a legislative gun to our head," said Ken Kay of the Computer Systems Policy Project, which represents chief executives at IBM, Dell Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., among others.
Both sides said Tuesday they were willing to continue negotiations.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hollywood spurned a high-stakes agreement disclosed Tuesday between leading music and technology companies aiming to protect copyrights on digital movies and music without new government involvement.
The unusual compromise, brokered among the music industry and some of the largest computer companies, lists seven "guiding principles" that the companies hope lawmakers will take into account as Congress develops future technology policies.
The agreement attempts to head off government intervention in the rising debate between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over what consumers can do with commercial music or movies they purchase.
Under the agreement, technology lobbyists will argue that record companies should be permitted to use hacker-style tactics to disrupt Internet downloads of pirated music and movies. They will caution that such tactics must not be destructive to networks or to a user's computer data, and must not violate a person's privacy.
They also will argue against efforts in Congress to amend U.S. laws to broaden the rights of consumers, such as explicitly permitting viewers to make backup copies of DVDs for personal use or copy downloaded songs onto handheld listening devices.
"We don't need our heads banged together"
In exchange, the Recording Industry Association of America agreed to argue against government requirements to build locking controls into future generations of entertainment devices to make it more difficult for consumers to share music and movies. Technology companies have complained that such controls are too expensive and complex.
"What we're saying is, we don't need our heads banged together," said Hilary Rosen, chief executive for the music group. She said the agreement will help stem "needless legislative battles, silly rhetoric about what divides us and continuing disharmony in the public policy arena."
The powerful movie, television and home video industry, represented by the Motion Picture Association of America, spurned the agreement. The MPAA has aggressively supported new government requirements for built-in locking controls on new devices, such as DVD recorders.
It is the primary supporter of a bill by Sen. Ernest Hollings, a South Carolina Democrat, that would prohibit the manufacture or distribution of "digital media devices" -- such as handheld music players -- unless they include government-approved copy restriction technology. The passage of Hollings' bill has been in doubt since the 2002 election, because Republican John McCain of Arizona replaced him as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee when the GOP won the majority in the Senate.
Hollywood criticizes move
The MPAA said that despite Tuesday's agreement, it was "not prepared to abandon the option of seeking technical protection measures via the Congress or appropriate regulatory agency, when necessary." It criticized the music industry for opposing such controls, saying that "no reasonable alternative course of action should be eliminated from consideration."
The MPAA also complained Tuesday about promises by the music and technology companies to participate in "constructive dialogue." It cited plans by the technology industry to spend $1 million over the next six months on a new organization, the Alliance for Digital Progress. A bid proposal for public-relations companies said the group's ambition was to "counter Hollywood" on the debate over copyrights.
Technology executives responded that they had sought a six-month "cease-fire" on any lobbying activity during a meeting with Hollywood executives in Chicago in September.
"We thought it would be more productive without the motion-picture industry holding a legislative gun to our head," said Ken Kay of the Computer Systems Policy Project, which represents chief executives at IBM, Dell Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., among others.
Both sides said Tuesday they were willing to continue negotiations.