Studios, tech companies team up
Both look at developing digital distribution business
By Paul Sweeting -- Video Business, 2/10/2006
FEB. 10 | NEW YORK—While movie piracy and illegal file-sharing continue to be problems, studio officials and others involved in combating them say there is reason for optimism.
“Since the Grokster case was decided, there has been a significant shift in mindset,” Motion Picture Assn. of America executive VP Fritz Attaway said at the Media Summit here sponsored by McGraw Hill. “I think there’s much more of a sense of shared interest in doing something about the problem, not just among the companies I represent but among many of the technology companies that used to oppose us. Look at Verizon, they were on the other side of the Grokster case, but now they’re a content provider and they share interests with us.”
Consumer Electronics Assn. VP government affairs Michael Petricone concurred. “Both the studios and the consumer electronics companies share a massive interest in moving forward in developing new digital distribution businesses,” he said.
CEA often has been at odds with the MPAA over issues such as the use of digital rights management technology and restrictions on the use of certain technologies.
Michael Weiss, CEO of Grokster’s co-defendant Streamcast Networks, said the change in attitude has been a two-way street.
“If you look at what Warner just announced in Germany, the studios are finally starting to embrace peer-to-peer,” Weiss said. “We’ve said all along that we could be an ally of the content companies.”
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group recently unveiled plans to launch a movie download service in Germany that is based in part on P2P technology (VB, 2-6).
Consumer attitudes also might be shifting, DRM Networks senior VP Randall Crockett said.
“You’re seeing a very strong movement of people willing to pay for content online,” Crockett said. “Five years ago, 75% of the paid content online was adult. Today, it’s 16%, and that’s not because adult went away. In fact it has grown, but non-adult content has grown even faster.”
Whether the new-found comity will have a material impact on the amount of piracy and illegal downloading remains unclear, however.
“There are over 200 million computers out there with P2P software loaded onto them, the vast majority outside the jurisdiction of the U.S.,” Petricone said. “They’re not going to go away no matter how many laws we pass here or how many people the MPAA sues. The only answer is to embrace the realities of the marketplace.”
