[DMCA-Activists] MPAA writing for CA Attorney General

[Seth Johnson]

(Forwarded from DMCA Discussion list)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [DMCA_Discuss] MPAA writing for CA Attorney General
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 10:21:19 -0800
From: "Jon O." <address@hidden>
Reply-To: address@hidden
To: address@hidden


http://slashdot.org/articles/04/03/15/141236.shtml?tid=123&tid=188&tid=97&tid=99

"In another example of Microsoft Word meta data coming back to bite you,
Wired News reports that a document circulated by the California Attorney
General to fellow lawmakers supporting new restrictions on P2P software was
actually authored by a senior vice president of the Motion Picture
Association of America." 


http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62665,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_html

Is California's attorney general preparing a legislative assault on
peer-to-peer file sharing? 

A draft letter purportedly circulated by Bill Lockyer to fellow state
attorneys general characterizes P2P software as a "dangerous product" and
describes the failure of technology makers to warn consumers of those
dangers as a deceptive trade practice. 


The draft document, dated February 26, was obtained by Wired News on March
12. Distribution of a revised version to other attorneys general is said to
coincide with the spring meeting in Washington, DC, March 15 to 17 of the
National Association of Attorneys General, of which Lockyer is president.
The attorney general's office plans to release a final version publicly
within the coming month, after obtaining additional signatories. 

"We do not wish to make any comment at this time on any document that the
office of the attorney general may or may not be developing," said Tom
Dressler, spokesperson for Bill Lockyer in Sacramento. "But we remain
concerned about the potential dangers posed to the public by peer-to-peer
file-sharing technology." 

However, the metadata associated with the Microsoft Word document indicates
it was either drafted or reviewed by a senior vice president of the Motion
Picture Association of America. According to this metadata (automatically
generated by the Word application), the document's author or editor is
"stevensonv." (The metadata of a document is viewable through the File menu
under Properties.) 

Sources tell Wired News that the draft letter's authorship is attributed to
Vans Stevenson, the MPAA's senior vice president for state legislative
affairs. MPAA representatives have issued similar criticisms of P2P
technology in the past. Stevenson could not be reached for comment. 

The document proposes an unprecedented legal theory with regard to
peer-to-peer file-sharing services. If P2P software can be used to violate
law, the argument goes, its makers should be obligated to incorporate a
warning on the product or face liability for deceptive trade practices. 

Here is an excerpt: 

As a P2P software developer and distributor, we believe you have the ability
and responsibility to better educate consumers about these known risks, and
to design your software in a manner that minimizes the risks. We view with
grave concern reports that at least some P2P software developers may be
adding features deliberately designed to hinder law enforcement in its
prosecution of crimes using P2P software. Companies that engage in such
conduct, and fail to meet the important responsibilities referenced above,
harm the interests of consumers in our States. 

It is widely recognized that P2P file-sharing software currently is used
almost exclusively to disseminate pornography, and to illegally trade
copyrighted music, movies, software and video games. File-sharing software
also is increasingly becoming a means to disseminate computer worms and
viruses. Nevertheless, your company still does little to warn consumers
about the legal and personal risks they face when they use your software to
"share" copyrighted music, movies and computer software. A failure to
prominently and adequately warn consumers, particularly when you advertise
and sell paid versions of your software, could constitute, at the very
least, a deceptive trade practice. 

In the wake of recent efforts by both the RIAA and MPAA to defend copyright
concerns through court action, such a statement from the attorney general
would seem to herald a new phase of coordinated efforts by government and
private industry to prevent crime through peer-to-peer networks -- and crack
down on copyright infringement in the process. 

Despite pressure from entertainment industry trade groups, the Department of
Justice has shown relative restraint with regard to P2P until now. 

"It's one thing for the MPAA to come up with a theory like that," said
Electronic Frontier Foundation senior intellectual property attorney Fred
von Lohmann, "But it would be quite another for a state attorney general to
adopt it. The principle has no limit -- you can use Internet Explorer to
violate the law or unintentionally access pornography, so does he want to
suggest that Microsoft is also breaking the law? Why stop at the Internet --
should Ford be held liable for failing to warn drivers that exceeding the
speed limit will expose them to citations?" 

"It's deeply troubling that an industry as monopolistic as this can
manipulate the public via top law enforcement officials, as evidenced in
this letter," said Grokster spokesperson Hal Bringman. "More than 60 million
P2P users, many of whom are voters, will not tolerate this kind of
behavior." 


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