WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Representatives from the file-sharing, film and recording industries are still at odds over the future of Internet downloading.
A group of industry executives -- including leaders from the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, Verizon Communications and major file-sharing software companies -- and consumer advocates held a panel discussion yesterday at the D.C. Bar Association to an audience of over 40 members, mostly lawyers, to discuss the emerging landscape for content distribution over the Internet.
The panel was moderated by Robert Kasunic, the principal legal advisor for the U.S. Copyright office.
The discussion highlighted a fundamental rift between content industry and those representing file-sharing interests, panelists agreed.
As lawsuits continue to be filed against individuals accused of illegally sharing copyrighted works over the Internet, the RIAA is hoping to make a significant dent in the social acceptance of music downloading, said Stanley Pierre-Louis, the association's vice president for legal affairs.
"The suits are a means to an end," Pierre-Louis said. "People are responding positively to [the lawsuits], believe it or not."
He said the industry has been encouraged by the relative success of paid-distribution programs, such as Apple's iTunes software, which allows users to purchase songs protected with Digital Rights Management software.
When prompted by Adam M. Eisgau, executive director of P2P United, an alliance of five companies which distribute popular file-sharing programs, only one audience member agreed with Pierre-Louis in foreseeing the eventual demise of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks as a result of current and future lawsuits and litigation.
Instead of such measures, Eisgau promoted an alternative approach of restructuring copyright law to meet the demands of modern Internet distribution, making it easier for content creators to be compensated for file-sharing activity.
"The question is how to [create] customers out of people who engage in file sharing," he said.
The suggestion was met with a cool reception by representatives from the music and film industries.
"We don't believe that this is a beneficial, productive way to compensate the content creator," said David E. Green, vice president and counsel for the MPAA.
Michael Goodwin, legal council for Public Knowledge, an organization which describes itself as an advocate for a fair and balanced approach to copyright and technology policy, offered what he considered to be the consumer's perspective as a middle-ground between both sides of the debate.
"Sharing music is an underlying design feature of human culture," he said. "I'd like to think in a democracy that trusting individuals with those prerogatives is the right thing to do."
Sarah B. Deutsch, vice president and associate general counsel for Verizon, an Internet Service Provider, agreed that regulation was stifling the industry. Deutsch offered the example of the printing press as another revolutionary means of distributing information that was initially opposed.
"ISPs are a conduit function," she said. "We shouldn't be in the business of monitoring this content"
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