September 15, 2003
Volume 1, Issue 10
DCIA Technology Demonstration for Congress
DCIA is sponsoring a day-long demonstration of the state-of-the-art of file sharing via peer-to-peer networks for Congressional legislators and their staffs on Wednesday September 17th at the Library of Congress (Jefferson Building, Room 162). The presentation is entitled P2P-101 LAB COURSE and features a technology overview as well as live demos of software and digital media.
DCIA is also participating in the Gartner Group 2 and Harvard Berkman Center on Internet & Society's day-long seminar on "Digital Media in Cyberspace" on September 18th in Boston, MA.
DCIA Webmaster Adam Marcus will be a presenter at the 31st Telecommunication Policy Research Conference to be held September 19-21 at the National Center for Technology & Law, George Mason University School of Law. His presentation will be based on his master's thesis, the title of which is "The Celestial Jukebox Revisited: Best Practices And Copyright Law Revisions For Subscription-Based Online Music Services." Adam will be presenting at a panel entitled "Copyright and Communications" moderated by Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge.
Next week DCIA will make a presentation at Digital Media Wire's day-long conference and workshop entitled "The Future of Entertainment Forum" on September 22nd in Atlanta, GA.
For more information about participating in any of these events, please contact us at info@dcia.info.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 The Senate Judiciary Hearing this week should have provided a real wake-up call for everyone interested in the future of distributed computing. It is not enough to be supported by the facts or to have an industry track record of steady improvements. To be effective on the Hill, extensive relationship building and the employment of a full arsenal of marketing communications vehicles are also required.
Hopefully, this does not come as a surprise to anyone. Nor should the reality that new technologies are often held to higher standards than what has come before them.
Alan Morris deserves special recognition for demonstrating world-class leadership qualities in the way he responded as a panelist at this week's hearing to shameful attacks on peer-to-peer file sharing by deceitful opponents, who wrongfully sought to equate P2P with child pornography.
Like every other parent and reasonable-thinking adult, Alan abhors the thought of child exploitation and would do anything in his power to protect children. He did not hesitate to accept the invitation to travel from London to appear on this panel to express the strength of his convictions on this subject.
Alan outlined the impressive strides that Sharman Networks has already taken in just eighteen months since acquiring KaZaA, both in terms of technology enhancements and in cooperation with law enforcement agencies.
KaZaA now features the industry's strongest family filter, password protected and user upgradeable, which downloads preset to block adult content. It also has an even higher setting than this default level to block all images and videos.
Although Sharman Networks has only been approached four times during this period by law enforcement officials, it has fully cooperated in every case, providing direction to authorities in the use of third-party software, which has aided in apprehending perpetrators attempting to traffic in criminally obscene content.
Alan cited the fact that according to government reports, P2P distribution accounts for only two per cent (2%) of child pornography on the Internet, and according to more recent data from the National Council for Missing and Exploited Children, it is actually an even smaller and declining portion.
In spite of this quantitative data that more than 98% of child pornography on the Internet comes from sources other than peer-to-peer, as a true industry leader and outstanding corporate citizen, Alan pledged to do even more. Specifically, Sharman Networks will contribute to ISafe and, based on upcoming confidential discussions with Judiciary Committee members, develop and deploy additional technical enhancements. We applaud Alan's stand on this issue, and pledge our proactive support in this area as a concerned industry association.
No amount of child pornography can be considered acceptable, and we should do all we can to ensure that peer-to-peer networks are among the most secure and attractive areas of the Internet.
Accordingly, and based on initial responses to the call for industry discussion that we made last week on how to make file sharing an even safer and higher quality experience for consumers, we will be seeking to establish alliances with several other institutions to put in place a new public program intended to help in the eradication of child pornography.
Specifically, this will be centered on the creation of a new user assistance capability focusing on "how-to-recognize-report-and-remove" criminally obscene content from consumer-operated peer-to-peer networks.
In this regard, we would also like to commend P2P United for its responsiveness in making a public announcement that it will launch an initiative to help consumers who encounter such undesirable content.
We suggest combining these and other efforts from trade groups with law enforcement agencies to explore cooperative efforts to help users improve the ways that they can help themselves and assist policing activities.
If you would like to participate, or have suggestions for how DCIA should proceed in this matter, please contact me directly at 888-864-3242 or marty@dcia.info.
Register Now for 10/8 DCIA Quarterly Meeting
DCIA is sponsoring its Quarterly General Meeting for Members and prospective Members on Wednesday October 8th at our headquarters in Arlington, VA (near Washington, DC). The agenda will focus on developing viable solutions to P2P piracy.
Learn from leaders of industry sectors and examine alternative proposals. Ensure that your voice is heard in this important discussion.
The morning general session will focus on the critical success factors and greatest concerns from each of DCIA's key constituencies: our Platform, Operations, and Content Groups.
The closed afternoon session will zero in on specific proposed business solutions, first from a strategic view, and then from the standpoint of tactical implementation.
A special room rate is available at the Arlington Hilton, above the Ballston Metro stop convenient to Reagan National Airport and the District, and one block from DCIA's headquarters, at 4200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 800, Arlington, VA 22203.
Please call 888-864-DCIA for more information or register now online at www.dcia.info.
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