Will Copyright Issues Interfere With the National Broadband Plan?

A panel discussion last week about what can be done to protect copyrighted content over the Internet united discussions of intellectual property protection with the congressionally-mandated effort to create a national broadband plan. The possibility of a national broadband plan being adopted in the coming year raised the possibility that content may be more readily available to consumers. This might mean that piracy might become more widespread, too. Speaking at a "digital breakfast" held on October 1 by Gotham Media Ventures, moderator Paul Sweeting, a media and technology consultant, cited a French law putting consumers on notice that broadband access may be denied if they are caught downloading illegal content. According to Michael O'Leary, executive vice president of governmental affairs at Motion Picture Association of America, there are various ways of dealing with copyright-infringing content, some more effective than others.