Antipiracy foes reach agreement

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
Music and technology industry lobbyists signed a rhetorical peace accord at an event in Washington DC on Tuesday afternoon and pledged to work more closely to thwart Internet piracy in the future. The press conference was designed to highlight a list of seven principles that the trade associations jointly drafted in a bid to head off a series of legislative proposals that would do everything from imposing anticopying standards on PC and electronics makers to regulating the sale of copy-protected CDs. The three groups are the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Business Software Alliance, and the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP). Instead of fighting before Congress over what new laws are necessary, the groups say they'll work together to educate the public, sue pirates, and develop "unilateral technical protection measures that limit unauthorised access, copying or redistribution" of copyrighted materials. RIAA chief executive Hilary Rosen said she expects the debate in the future to shift toward "technical protection measures, which heretofore have not gotten that much attention" from hardware and software makers. The other principles include: greater public awareness of copyright laws, satisfying "consumer expectations," civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions against pirates, and opposition to "government mandates". "A government technology mandate won't solve the problem of online piracy," said Ken Kay, executive director of the CSPP, which represents Dell, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, NCR, IBM, EMC and Unisys. Notably absent from the press conference were groups like the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) that have been more aggressive than the RIAA in supporting expansive changes to copyright law. Ideologically, the recording industry groups and the information technology groups have never been far apart. They've used similar tactics to combat piracy, ranging from sending cease-and-desist letters to Internet service providers to joining law enforcement in raids on CD or software reproduction facilities. Both groups lobbied for the controversial 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and neither wants to change it. Technology companies and copyright holders have spurred each other to rhetorical excesses over the past six months, but it has been the consumer-electronics companies and Hollywood studios that have taken the most extreme positions. Neither of those two groups was involved in the discussions that led to Tuesday's press conference. The three groups involved said they will begin to plan a high-level meeting of executives over the next several weeks who will talk about how to turn the principles into concrete proposals. Those meetings will be unlikely to include groups that did not sign on to the initial document, such as the MPAA or Consumer Electronics Association. News.com's John Borland contributed to this report.
See the Digital Rights News Section for the latest on DVD-Ram, DVD-RW, zoning and copy protection. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

BrownieBoy

@Jack, > Works really well for thieves.... Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...

6 minutes ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks
bootlegger

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

3 hours ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out
tinycg

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

6 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move
TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

10 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

20 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

2 days ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 days ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint