RIAA: Don't let Net neutrality hurt piracy fight

[Brian Warkoczeski]

RIAA: Don't let Net neutrality hurt piracy fight

By Anne Broache, www.cnet.com

May 6, 2008

WASHINGTON--The Recording Industry Association of America's chief voiced 
skepticism on Tuesday about the need for Net neutrality rules, but 
warned that the government may need to step in if Internet service 
providers don't become more proactive in fighting digital piracy.

The House of Representatives subcommittee hearing was further evidence 
that the now years-old debate over Net neutrality is taking on a new 
dimension, in which concerns about Internet piracy are entering the 
debate. Net neutrality, of course, refers to the idea that network 
operators should be barred from discriminating against or prioritizing 
Internet content that travels on their pipes.

RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol told the panel that a Net neutrality bill 
proposed this year by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) isn't all bad because 
it views "unlawful" content, such as copyright-infringing material, as 
unworthy of protection by Internet service providers. He said he hopes 
that approach may even help to pressure ISPs to "focus on the piracy 
problem."

Still, Bainwol said he strongly prefers that the entertainment industry 
and Internet service providers work together on the piracy question in 
an unregulated fashion.

"My fear is that legislation will take time," Bainwol said. "We have a 
problem that is right now."

If private sector action doesn't pan out, Bainwol said the RIAA would 
return to the committee for its "help" on the matter.

Markey attempted to reassure copyright holders that his bill will do 
nothing to hamper ISPs' ability to block "unlawful" pirated content, 
vehemently taking issue with any suggestions to the contrary.

"This whole idea that this legislation helps piracy is 100 percent 
wrong," Markey said. "It's a red herring. We should put an aquarium out 
here because there are so many red herrings floating around to mislead 
about what the intent of Net neutrality is."

The bill that Markey introduced in February would enshrine certain 
Internet nondiscrimination principles into law--namely, that the 
government should adopt and enforce "baseline protections to guard 
against unreasonable discriminatory favoritism for, or degradation of, 
content by network operators based upon its source, ownership, or 
destination on the Internet."

As in the past, the effort is mostly supported by Democrats, although 
Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) is also a co-sponsor. They argue that it's 
necessary to keep the Internet open and democratic. Some Republicans on 
Tuesday argued new laws are unnecessary because of a lack of visible 
discrimination problems by Internet service providers--because they 
could harm ISPs' antipiracy efforts.

A 1998 law known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, says 
Web hosts and ISPs aren't generally liable for infringing activity on 
the part of their users, provided that they don't condone infringement, 
that they remove infringing material when notified, and that they aren't 
deriving financial benefit from it. But some ISPs, such as AT&T, are 
exploring ways to filter their networks for pirated content, even though 
they arguably aren't legally required to do so.

"It would be remiss for us as a body to interfere in these efforts," 
said Mary Bono Mack (D-Calif.), the widow of singer Sonny Bono. "I think 
this bill would do that."

Bainwol, for his part, said he was "heartened" to see that Markey's bill 
recognizes "that Internet freedom isn't synonymous with a Wild West in 
which the taking of our property is accepted or, at best, ignored." But 
he worried that the bill could unwittingly limit forms of "network 
management" used to police networks for copyright infringement.

His remarks are similar to those made earlier this year by the Motion 
Picture Association of America, which argued that attempts to prohibit 
network operators from discriminating against or prioritizing Internet 
content could limit their ability to police their networks for copyright 
infringement. Recently, the cable industry, which has long opposed Net 
neutrality regulations, raised similar concerns.

Steve Peterman, co-creator and executive producer of the hit children's 
series Hannah Montana, said he strongly condemns piracy, but he argued 
the Net neutrality bills put forth by Markey and the senators would do 
nothing to harm those efforts. Peterman spoke on behalf of the Writers 
Guild of America, which says Net neutrality laws will ensure a diversity 
of new content can surface without interference from big-media 
"gatekeepers."

"We don't want (the piracy issue) to be an excuse for limiting our 
access to the Internet as a means of communicating with an enormous new 
audience," Peterman said.

The event marked the second hearing on Net neutrality legislation in two 
weeks. Senate Democrats have also renewed their call for the 
antidiscrimination rules, with a particular focus on whether the Federal 
Communications Commission has the necessary authority to take action 
against network operators found to be interfering unreasonably with 
their customers' network traffic.

Comcast, which is under investigation by the FCC for its handling of 
BitTorrent file-sharing traffic, was the focus of a large chunk of the 
Senate hearing but didn't attract as much attention at Tuesday's House 
event.

Republicans and some Democrats have long argued that Net neutrality 
regulations are unnecessary and will stifle the growth of new broadband 
networks. But Pickering, the bill's co-sponsor, said his measure is 
necessary because of contentions by Comcast and others that the FCC 
doesn't have the power to enforce its own broadband principles, which 
say consumers have the right to access the lawful Internet content and 
applications of their choice.

"I think this legislation is very helpful," Pickering said, "in that it 
says very clearly we will codify these principles."