RIAA, P2P reps to meet at Coleman hearing September 30

September 26, 2003

Senator Norm Coleman wants the music and motion picture industries to get ahead of the curve in creating new customers, instead of alienating them.

Saying he's scheduled a September 30 hearing of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), of which he chairs, Coleman says the hearing will, "scrutinize the RIAA's crackdown on illegal file-sharers".

The subcommittee will also examine the impact of technology on the future of the entertainment industry, proposals by peer-to-peer networks to change their business models and the potential changes that are coming in the recording industry, including the motion picture industry, he says in a statement, going on:

"My goal is to focus on today's problems facing both consumers and the industry given the runaway expansion of file-sharing with an eye toward tomorrow's solutions. I want to seek balanced solutions that preserve individual privacy, protect industry copyrights, and look to a future in which the music and motion picture industries are ahead of the digital curve in creating new customers instead of alienating them."

Coleman says "key" issues to be examined include:

Is the industry being reasonable in its application of the sweeping powers granted under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and targeting of potential illegal file-sharers?

What role is the peer-to-peer industry playing in the industry troubles and what are they doing to address the problem of illegal file-sharing?

What is the future of the music recording and motion picture industry in this digital age and how can new technologies be incorporated into business models?

"While still being compiled, the panels will likely include representatives of the RIAA, the peer-to-peer industry, other entertainment industry representatives, a subject of an RIAA subpoena and a perspective of an entirely new business model that assumes future changes in technology and its impact on the entertainment industry," he adds.

Sen. Coleman has been an active critic of the RIAA and it's legal tactics. He has been busy writing letters and speaking out publicly concerning his distaste of the whole matter. Here is one quote from Coleman; "Surely it was not Congress' intent when it passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to short-circuit due process protections, relegate a U.S. District Court to providing 'rubber-stamp' subpoenas, enable the music industry to collect information about consumers with little or no restrictions, and place numerous average consumers at risk of bankruptcy."

"Coleman expressed concern that the RIAA may be in danger of abusing the broad-based subpoena authority it was granted to determine the extent of illegal file sharing in the United States and that its tactics may be creating anxiety and concern among many Americans who are innocent or unknowingly guilty of violating copyright infringement laws," says a subcommittee statement.

The entire article can be read here.

Source: p2pnet.net