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| September 16, 2003 | |||
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COLEMAN SEEKS INFORMATION ON FILE-SHARING CRACKDOWN, INDUSTRY IMPACT OF PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS AND NEW INDUSTRY BUSINESS MODELS
Sets September 30 hearing date and expands hearing to include impact on Hollywood and possible new industry models in era of technological advances |
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Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) has scheduled a hearing of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) on September 30th to scrutinize the Recording Industry Association of America’s crackdown on illegal file-sharers. As part of the three panel hearing, 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.
As Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Coleman has acknowledged the detrimental economic impact on the music industry of illegal file-sharing and copyright infringement. At the same time, Coleman has expressed concern that nominal or unsuspecting downloaders may be targeted and that fines of up to $150,000 per downloaded song may be out of proportion to the nature of the offense. “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,” Senator Coleman said. “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.” The scheduled PSI hearing follows the filing by the RIAA last week of 261 civil lawsuits seeking thousands of dollars in damages from defendants who have allegedly uploaded an average of 1,000 songs to peer-to-peer networks. The RIAA has sent some 1,500 subpoenas to internet service providers seeking the names of music sharers and has threatened to issue thousands more lawsuits. The hearing will focus on key issues facing the industry and consumers: - 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? The subcommittee will hear from a cross-section of individuals representing the recording and motion picture industries, consumers, and peer-to-peer networks. 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. |
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