INTEL EXECUTIVE SAYS DRM TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP, BUT LEGISLATION WON'T
BOSTON -- Intent of Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Hollings (D-S.C.) to find govt. solution to copy protection online is “mind-boggling,” Intel executive said here Thurs., and “what has consumed my time the last few months has been that bill.” Addressing Connectivity 2002 conference, Intel Vp-Legal Affairs & Public Policy Donald Whiteside said he wanted content providers to thrive and have their intellectual property protected. Technology could aid that, he said, but fair use rights also had to be protected and federal govt. wasn’t suited to make technology decisions. Hollings’ bill (S-2048), which would have FCC mandate digital rights management (DRM) technology if industries couldn’t agree, “would say to Intel, ‘You are no longer able to decide what the best technology is to put in your chips.'” Meanwhile, 2 attorneys from Harvard said copyright and trademark holders were targeting online content aggressively, often sending cease-and-desist letters when there wasn’t clear case of copyright violation in hope of intimidating an individual lacking in legal resources.
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Whiteside was optimistic content producers would reach agreement with IT and CE industries on DRM solutions, which could be coupled with other efforts to combat piracy. But he said “the old method of distribution is still racing to catch up with the Internet and Moore’s Law,” which stipulates doubling of processing power at half price every 18 months. Wrong approach to digital content distribution, he said, would be to “create a construct to protect old [distribution] models.” Some speakers at conference have suggested that those established companies couldn’t learn new approaches and should be allowed to die, but Whiteside said “I don’t believe that.” He said best content in digital age still would be coming from “Disney and News Corp.,” most vocal proponents of S-2048.
One sticking point, Whiteside said, is protecting fair use, something everyone supports but no one can define. “I don’t know whether fair use needs a definition,” he said, “but we need to make sure new digital uses [of content] are defined -- legally or illegally… We shouldn’t limit uses today while not knowing where we're going tomorrow.” Whiteside, facing audience including some quite resistant to any copy-protection technology, said such approach was “not bad. It is a vehicle that can be used to strike a balance” between intellectual property protection and fair use. “These technologies are available today,” he said, but challenge is to get content providers to embrace them.
“Fair use is one of those issues where it’s hard to give a good answer,” agreed Wendy Seltzer, founder of Web- based operation chronicling cease-and-desist letters for alleged online copyright or trademark infringement. Seltzer and Diane Cabell are with Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and their site (www.chillingeffects.org) is done in conjunction with Electronic Frontier Foundation and law schools of Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, U. of San Francisco and the U. of Me. Internet has revolutionized publishing, Seltzer said, but has also enabled copyright holders to be more aggressive in protecting their intellectual property. One technique, she said, is use of “copyright bots” -- programs that roam Internet searching for copyrighted content. Those bots, she said, don’t always make accurate assessments. “The MPAA has a particularly rampant bot” that has made some comical errors, she said. Content holders then send cease-and-desist letters to ISPs and Web site owners, who when faced with the possibility of legal action usually take down questionable material. “People are stopped from actions that might be legal,” she said.
“The regulatory model is coming apart at the seams,” former Microsoft engineer Bob Frankston said. Washington is “detached from reality” when it comes to the Internet and content, he said, “and the people involved will admit it.” One problem, he said, is that Congress deals with companies and industries rather than with consumers: “Congress confers baubles. They give them out to companies [thinking they're] helping the economy.” Seltzer said empowerment being given to content providers was leading to “a closing of the Internet.” Christopher Herot, founder of wireless data company called MessageMachines that was acquired last month by NMS Communications, said IT industry was failing in Washington. He said motion picture industry’s gross revenue is one-tenth that of computer industry, yet each spent about same on lobbying, and studios “are much more effective.”