Copyright Liability Burning Issue at Internet Summit
While leaders from the FCC, the Bush administration and Congress meet today (Mon.) and tomorrow in Aspen to discuss the future of Internet policy, a current issue is pressing on the agenda. The annual Aspen Summit by the Progress & Freedom Foundation is expected to feature several lively discussions involving P2P provider liability for copyright infringement -- an issue tackled last week by a U.S. appeals court in P2P’s favor (CD Aug 20 p6).
The formal conference starts today (Mon.), but scheduled Sun. night after our deadline was an opening “dialogue” on piracy, featuring Warner Bros. Entertainment Senior Vp- Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations Darcy Antonellis and Hewlett-Packard Exec. Vp-Chief Strategy & Technology Officer Shane Robison. But sparks are really expected to fly at an off-the-record working dinner Mon. night on P2P and contributory infringement. That was the issue in the Grokster decision that may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s also the focus of legislation (S-2560) by several leading senators including Senate Judiciary Committee Chmn. Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.), Majority Leader Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Daschle (D-S.D.).
The P2P working dinner panel lineup reads like a who’s who in copyright policy. Several senior attorneys with key House and Senate committees will be joined by industry officials such as Verizon’s Sarah Deutsch, Computer & Communications Industry Assn.’s Ed Black, Time Warner’s Shira Perlmutter, eBay’s Tod Cohen, PFF’s James DeLong, TechNet’s Rick White and others. The dinners are designed to encourage a freewheeling discussion, and participants tend to speak quite plainly; 2 years ago a copyright working dinner devolved into name-calling between lobbyists on opposite sides of the issue. Other working dinners Mon. night focus on the future of communications law, spectrum policy, digital competition policy, and order and law on the Internet. That last discussion will involve Dan Caprio, who left the FTC in spring to join the Commerce Dept., and the FCC’s Jane Mago.
While copyright is a pressing issue, it’s not the only subject being addressed in Aspen. Among the panel discussions: (1) Mon. morning, an Internet governance discussion including FTC Comr. Orson Swindle, State Dept. Ambassador David Gross and Symantec CEO John Thompson. (2) Tues. afternoon, a focus on future Internet applications including Verizon Vice Chmn. Lawrence Babbio and Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Craig Mundie. (3) Tues. morning, a panel on regulating the physical layer of the Internet with NTIA Dir. Michael Gallagher and 4 trade association presidents -- Steve Largent (CTIA), Walter McCormick (USTA), Robert Sachs (NCTA) and John Windhausen (ALTS). (4) Mon. morning, another panel on the Internet physical layer features FCC Comr. Abernathy and 2 CEOs, Glenn Britt (Time Warner Cable) and James Crowe (Level 3 Communications).
FCC Chmn. Powell is speaking at a Mon. lunch. The topic hasn’t been announced. The final speech of the conference, Tues. evening, is by BellSouth CEO Duane Ackerman. Babbio talks at a Tues. lunch, while VeriSign CEO Stratton Sclavos gives the opening keynote Mon. Asst. Attorney Gen.-Antitrust Hewitt Pate speaks on Internet competition Mon. morning.