M+E Daily

By Lyndsey Schaefer

Los Angeles — One year after Hollywood’s epic battle with the technology industry over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) Motion Picture Association of America CEO Chris Dodd sought to strike a more constructive tone this week in discussing copyright protection and the relationship between the two industries.

Keynoting the Content Protection Summit here Thursday sponsored by Variety and CDSA Dodd declared that Hollywood and Silicon Valley have more in common than is often acknowledged. “Not only does Hollywood work closely with Silicon Valley to create and promote films,” Dodd said, “Hollywood film and television creators are tech companies. They celebrate innovation through the world’s most cutting-edge content, and they embrace technology as imperative to the success of the creators in their community.”

Dodd stressed the importance of making it easy for consumers to access legal content, and rattled off a few examples of the more than 350 services offering legal ways to get content online, including 60 in the U.S. He also touted the actions of Google, who recently changed its algorithms to move illegal sites down on their search results, and to elevate legal sites.

Preventing online piracy remains MPAA chief’s prime directive, however. Referring to the fight over SOPA and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) Dodd noted that he is nearing the end of his two-year cooling off period following his retirement from more than three decades in the U.S. Senate, and said he is looking forward to lobbying his former colleagues on industry issues in January.

“Content does not have a future without technology, and technology does not have a future without content,” he said.

Dodd also briefly mentioned the MPAA’s new Copyright Alert System, which was further detailed by Marianne Grant, Senior Vice President of the association. The Copyright Alert System (CAS) is a system aimed at educating Internet subscribers about digital copyright and the possible consequences of copyright violations through peer-to-peer networks.

Under the voluntary system, which is being adopted by the five largest Internet Service Providers (AT&T, Comcast, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Verizon), copyright owners be able to target individual web surfers whom they believe are engaged in illegal or infringing activity. Once identified by their IP address, the user will be sent a warning notice by the ISP explaining why their actions may be illegal and a violation of the ISP’s policies, and provide guidance on how to avoid receiving further alerts. The notices will also provide information on how to locate film, television and music content legally.

Grant described CAS as a pervasive education program rather than a pervasive punishment program. She said its final implementation activities are in progress, and that the MPAA is expecting a full launch in January.

During his afternoon keynote, General (Ret.) James Cartwright, Harold Brown Chair in Defense Policy Studies, Center for Strategic and International Studies, discussed how the Internet and cyberspace are now among the most challenging national security policies facing the United Sates and global community. He urged attendees to consider how the U.S. defines critical infrastructure, and how our approach of defense of intellectual property differs from the rest of the world.

In an afternoon panel, three studio executives discussed how content protection technology has evolved as new video formats have been introduced. Mitch Singer, Chief Digital Strategy Officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment, sketched ou the advances in copy protection as the industry has moved from DVD to Blu-ray Disc, and now to UltraViolet and 4K.

Jackie Hayes, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Legal and Business Affairs, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said the transition from software-based to more hardware-based solutions has allowed more usage models to be enabled.

Separately, speakers also stressed the importance of CDSA and MPAA audits.

“We’ve come a really long way in this industry,” said Bob Eicholz, Senior Vice President of IT Architecture and Security, Deluxe. “CDSA and MPAA audits have done more for the industry than anything else. Once you’ve come a long way, it’s not that hard to keep it going.”

For more coverage of the Content Protection Summit 2012, please check the following links:

Hollywood’s Total Piracy Awareness Program Set for January Launch (Wired)

MPAA CEO Dodd Stresses Cooperation Between Tech and Hollywood (HMM)

(Advanced Television)

MPAA chief calls for Silicon Valley partnership (Variety)

MPAA – Entertainment and tech industry must join forces (Film Industry Network)