Patent, Entertainment Reps Talk Online Content Protection at FCC Workshop

On September 17, the Federal Communications Commission help a National Broadband Plan workshop focused on issues pertaining to online content and its role in the broadband ecosystem. John Horrigan, consumer research director for the national broadband plan, said the underlying goal was to figure out what drives adoption, specifically what users want, saying content from entertainment industries plays a big part. He said it would have taken three workshops to fit all the people in the room who wanted to attend. Michael Shapiro of the Patent and Trademark Office brought a brief message. He said his department had a keen interest in the development of the broadband plan, and cited the "great peril" of the potential of the plan accelerating trends in digital piracy. Dan Glickman, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, said that the expansion of broadband could have an enormously positive impact, but said the Internet economy will not flourish if it becomes a lawless place. "It must be a safe and secure environment," he said. Michael Bracy, policy director of the Future of Music Coalition, said there was a public interest in economic structures that allow creators to be compensated. He said a big part of the new model will be universal broadband with network neutrality protections. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said, "The last time the FCC mandated a copy protection technology without Congressional authorization, the DC Circuit slapped it down. That case involved the infamous broadcast flag. Any copy protection mandate the FCC could devise here would suffer the same fate."