WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Industry, technology and business leaders are awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision on computer file sharing that probably will have lasting implications on copyright law and technological innovations alike.
The court is expected to decide the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer vs. Grokster case this week, which experts predict will determine whether peer-to-peer file-sharing companies should be held responsible for any copyright infringement made possible through their networks.
The decision also is expected to impact consumer-electronics products such as the iPod and TiVo.
"This is the most important case before the Supreme Court since the 1984 Sony Betamax case," Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of the Consumer Electronics Association, said in the keynote address at the 2nd Annual Digital Media Conference, which took place in McLean, Va.
"At face value, the case concerns peer-to-peer file-sharing, but in truth the case is so much broader," Shapiro told conference attendees. "It is about preserving America's proud history of technological innovation and protecting the ability of consumers to access and use technology."
The CEA is a membership organization of consumer-electronics companies in Arlington, Va.
In its 1984 Sony vs. Universal decision concerning Sony's Betamax technology case -- which has long been considered the copyright-protection standard -- the court ruled that creators of new technologies are not liable if their technology is used for infringement, as long as there is also a legitimate use.
Shapiro argued that those in favor of stronger copyright protections in the case were trying to stifle technological innovation.
"The content industry has it absolutely wrong here," he said. "Instead of trying to enforce legislation or overturn a 20-year-old Supreme Court ruling, content creators should focus their considerable funding and energy into finding business models that incorporate new technologies rather than shunning them."
Phil Corwin, counsel for Sharman Networks, an Australian firm that makes the Kazaa file-sharing application, shared Shapiro's fears.
"My hope certainly is that a decision does not do two things," Corwin said in a panel discussion. "It should not create a duty for innovators to design their technologies to Hollywood standards ... and we also don't want copyright monopolists."
Sarah Deutsch, vice president and associated general counsel for Verizon Communications in New York City, agreed.
"When an innovator is creating a product," Deutsch said during the same panel, "they can't anticipate all the uses which will dominate or ultimately be successful."
Content industry representatives responded that it was not peer-to-peer technology they opposed, but rather the business models and consumer attitudes that took advantage of the technology for copyright infringement. They, on the other hand, were developing legitimate uses for the technology.
"The dividing line (in the decision) is between behavior and technology," said Mitch Glazier, senior vice president of government and industry relations at the Recording Industry Association of America, during the discussion. "No one should be regulating technology -- people should be regulating behavior. It is not the technology that is the problem; it is the abuse of the technology that is the problem. I believe (the Supreme Court) will focus on the abuse, and I think they will do everything they can to make sure that the technology itself functions."
Another panel member, Fritz Attaway, general counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America, said: "Anything that makes it easier for us to get movies out to consumers who have paid to see them is good for us, and we would support it. We're not against peer-to-peer technology; we are against business models founded on infringement. There is a very critical difference."
One company that has partnered with the recording industry to use file-sharing technology in a legal business arrangement is Ruckus, in Herndon, Va., which markets a subscription service for copyright content on college campuses.
William Raduchel, the company's chairman and CEO, described the difficulty of competing with free file-sharing services and the need to change the public's attitude about copyright infringement.
"That there is a generation of kids who believe that intellectual property should be stolen at will and that it is not a problem is a problem, and it leads to a lot of other things down the road," Raduchel told United Press International. "(Colleges) have a moral obligation to do something about it. Congress, just a month ago, made it a new federal crime punishable by three years in prison to post for download an unpublished copyrighted work that is going to be published. Effect on behavior, as far as I can tell: zero."
Tess Taylor, president of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals, agreed that consumer attitudes needed to be modified.
"Something that I promote heavily is the education that is so necessary to get away from what is otherwise an honest and lawful citizen being seduced by self-interest into thinking that theft is OK," Taylor told the conference audience.
Shapiro argued that the kind of education proposed by those in favor of increased copyright protection would be one-sided.
"The content industry has been clever, flexible, and absolutely ruthless in defining the debate to meet their content policy objectives," he said. "The content (industry) has taken control of language and painted technology enthusiasts as thieves out to plunder our profits and shipwreck the entire music industry."
Content representatives admitted the industry needs to find better ways of effectively utilizing peer-to-peer technology for legitimate use -- although they emphasized the industry embraces the technology.
"One of the things that the motion-picture industry needs to do is to get more product out there on services like CinemaNow and other Internet services," Attaway said, adding it is essential for the movie studios to provide alternatives to stealing.
"Without a doubt, legal (peer-to-peer) networks will be the largest market for all intellectual property," said Russ Reeder, CEO of Rightsline, a company in Beverly Hills, Calif., that provides online business rights management.
Reeder told the conference audience that in order to use legitimate P2P technology effectively, a system of copyright tracking must be developed to pay copyright owners for use of their content, and digital-rights management should be enabled to prevent unauthorized copying after a legitimate download.
--
K.I. Marshall is an intern for UPI Science News. E-mail: [email protected]
