FC: Entertainment lobbyists have new opponent: Verizon and Baby Bells

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2008-1082-955417.html?tag=politech

   Why telecoms back the pirate cause
   By Declan McCullagh 
   August 27, 2002, 12:00 PM PT

   ASPEN, Colorado--The copyright wars on Capitol Hill have
   begun to drift into the political equivalent of trench warfare, with
   Hollywood and the music industry pitted against hardware makers,
   electronics manufacturers, and ragtag activists at nonprofit groups.
   
   Now consumers have a powerful new ally. Verizon and other
   telecommunications giants have ordered their phalanx of lobbyists to
   oppose the entertainment industry's demands for new copyright laws.
   The company is also fighting the Recording Industry Association of
   America's request for information about a subscriber.
   
   So at the center of the copyright scrum, you'll find Sarah Deutsch.
   The 41-year-old Deutsch, a vice president and associate general
   counsel at Verizon, represented her employer during the negotiations
   over the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) copyright
   treaties and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). These days,
   she is marshaling the opposition to proposals in Congress that would
   permit attacks on peer-to-peer networks, boost technology used for
   digital rights management, and grant more power to copyright holders.
   
   CNET News.com sat down with Deutsch, who was recently in town for a
   Progress and Freedom Foundation conference, to talk about this looming
   confrontation over digital copyright law.

   
   Q: The Recording Industry Association of America wants you to reveal
   the name of a subscriber who's an alleged peer-to-peer pirate, but
   you're saying they're not following the appropriate legal procedure.
   What's the dispute? 
   A: Verizon looked carefully at the subpoena. This is different from
   anything they had sent us in the past. (Those) always applied to
   material residing on our system or network (instead of a peer-to-peer
   node). It created a very difficult policy issue for us. We understand
   that RIAA has a problem and needs this information. At the same time,
   we have an equally legitimate concern that they comply with the proper
   legal process. We believe this is a very important case of first
   impression and should not be rushed.

   [...]




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