August 4, 2003
Volume 1, Issue 4
This week we continued responding to prospective
Charter Members with follow-up information and meeting
with other trade groups to broaden our perspectives.
Ideas are beginning to take shape for practical business
solutions to develop with our key constituencies. We
intend to further explore these in our first working
group. We also accompanied Charter Member Altnet at
its legislative briefings and participated in a syndicated
television program to outline DCIA's mission.
DCIA Founder and now Altnet senior executive Derek
Broes appeared Friday evening on CNBC's Capital Report,
highlighting Altnet's impressive and growing success
in exclusively distributing licensed content through
the peer-to-peer file-sharing network of KaZaA users.
Thanks again to all who helped formulate our position
statements on recently proposed legislation. Here are
the results:
- DCIA Draft Statement Re "Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003" - H.R. 2517
"DCIA supports HR 2517's intentions to educate consumers about protecting privacy, security, and copyright on the Internet. However, this proposed legislation would
create a staggering law enforcement task, distort roles of governmental agencies, cause inequities, and fail
to address the fundamental issue of ensuring that consumers have legitimate means to access media files on the
Internet. DCIA actively encourages the development of positive alternatives to offer consumers viable
choices in digital distribution of copyrighted works."
DCIA Draft Statement Re "Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection and Security Act of 2003" - H.R. 2752
"DCIA supports HR 2752's intentions to prevent false
information in domain name registrations, and to further
address the need to inform consumers regarding downloadable
software privacy and security. However, this proposed
legislation's attempt to criminalize file-sharing seems
arbitrary, unconstitutional, and, in practice, unenforceable.
DCIA actively encourages practical business solutions
for compensating content rights holders in peer-to-peer
file-sharing distribution environments."
DCIA Draft Statement Re "Protecting Children
from Peer-to-Peer Pornography Act of 2003" H.R.
2885
"DCIA supports HR 2885's intentions to provide adequate
safeguards to juveniles from accessing inappropriate
content on the Internet. However, this proposed legislation
attacks peer-to-peer distribution technology rather
than an unfortunate abuse of it, and fails to offer
reasonable remedies. DCIA actively encourages the adoption
of content filtering technology that will enable parents
to protect their children from undesirable material."
Please let me know if you have additional input (marty@dcia.info),
and we will let you know as soon as the 7/17 subcommittee
hearing webcast is available. Also attached, FYI, is
the 7/31 PSI Press Release and RIAA Letter from Senator
Norm Coleman (R- MN).
DCIA is looking at all facets of research, including
advanced game theory, to understand the future of the
industry. How will online consumers respond to potential
changes? What are the degrees of change needed by our
three Groups (Platform, Operations, and Content) to
generate consumer behavior that will satisfy the industry's
economic needs? The "Holy Grail" would be
creation of a simulation process to enable the input
of different industry variables with consumer response
as its outcome. In the meantime, a course is being
considered that will provide insight into consumer
preferences given various industry actions in the near
term. DCIA's research group is now developing its specific
recommendation to present to DCIA Members for accomplishing
this.
Our research group is also in the process of assessing
available research as the source for industry metrics.
In press articles cited in DCIA newsletters, there
are numerous statistics presented in support of claims
made in these reports. These statistics come from different
sources, and do not necessarily support each other.
An important part of DCIA's mission is to speak with
a voice of integrity for the industry, and we will
find that voice by credibly representing industry metrics
and consumer information.
DCIA's weekly newsletter, DCInfo, is now available
on our homepage at www.dcia.info, which may provide
the easiest way for you to link to this week's press
reports in their entirety.
"Napster's
Back -- And This Time Its File Sharing is Legal,"
San Francisco Chronicle, July 28, 2003
"Napster,
the RIAA, and File-Sharing,"
Slyck.com, July 28, 2003
"Subpoenas
Sent to File-Sharers Prompt Anger and Remorse," New
York Times, July 28, 2003
"More
Online Music Stores Expected,"
New York Times, Juy 28, 2003
"RIAA
Taps Washington Insider as Chairman,"
Los Angeles Times, July 29, 2003
"Secret Networks Protect Music
Swappers," CNN,
July 29, 2003
"FTC
Warns About File Trading & Spyware,"
CNET News, July 30, 2003
"Students
Face Swapping Rules," USA Today, July 30, 2003
"Music
Downloading, File-Sharing, and Copyright,"
MediaPost, July 31, 2003
"Senator
Asks RIAA for Information on Music File-Swapper
Subpoenas," Wired,
July 31, 2003
"SBC
Sues RIAA Over Subpoenas for File-Sharers' Identities,
Cites Privacy," Yahoo,
July 31, 2003
"Music
Downloaders Shrug, So What? Most Don't Give a Hoot for
Copyright Concerns,"
Media Life, August 1, 2003
"New
Tactic Planned in Anti-Piracy Campaign,"
Los Angeles Times, August 1, 2003
"Hollywood
Speaks to America's Youth: From-the-Wallet Talk on Why
Piracy is Wrong,"
Media Life, August 1, 2003
"Anti-Piracy Lawmakers To Push
One Bill On Hill,"
Billboard, August 2, 2003
"Pirates of The Internet,"
Newsweek, August 4, 2003
"Downloader
Dragnet," Time
Magazine, August 4, 2003
"Coleman
concerned recording industry's shotgun approach to
issuing rubber-stamped subpoenas inadvertently targets
unwary consumers," Press Release, July 31, 2003
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