DCIA Members Announce Plans Post MGM v. Grokster Hearing
Members of the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) will announce plans in Los Angeles on Friday for commercial development of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing following the US Supreme Court’s hearing of oral arguments in the MGM v. Grokster case here yesterday.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) April 1, 2005 -- Members of the Distributed Computing
Industry Association (DCIA) will announce plans in Los Angeles on Friday for
commercial development of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing following the US
Supreme Court’s hearing of oral arguments in the MGM v. Grokster case here
yesterday.
New strategies and tactics for P2P business models, content
origination, licensed content distribution, digital rights management, and
payment solutions will be unveiled by DCIA Members MasurLaw, Jun Group , Intent
MediaWorks, Digital Containers, and P2P Cash, respectively at 11:00 AM on
Friday, April 1, 2005 during Digital Hollywood Spring (DHS) at Loews Santa
Monica Beach Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. The DCIA now has 36 Member companies
organized into three groups representing content rights holders, P2P software
providers, and service companies.
DCIA Members currently distribute
millions of authorized copies of copyrighted works each month via file sharing,
both for promotional purposes and for sale, using P2P software programs
distributed by fellow DCIA Members, such as Kazaa, Grokster, and TrustyFiles, as
well as those distributed by other developers, such as BearShare, eDonkey, and
LimeWire, through affiliation agreements.
DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty said,
“Following yesterday’s Supreme Court hearing, we’re confident that it’s
abundantly clear major entertainment companies will be much better off working
with industry-leading P2P firms to commercially develop this most promising
distribution channel, rather than continuing to boycott it. Thanks to
independent musicians, film-makers, and the computer-games industry, our Members
have demonstrated that P2P has the potential to be the largest and most
lucrative medium ever for licensed content distribution.”
Top executives
of DCIA Members will participate in Friday’s panel, including MasurLaw Founder
& General Partner Steve Masur, Jun Group Principal Partner Mitchell
Reichgut, Intent MediaWorks Founder & CEO Les Ottolenghi, Digital Containers
CEO Chip Venters, and P2P Cash CEO Tom Meredith. On Thursday evening, the DCIA
will also sponsor the entertainment for Digital Hollywood’s inaugural
OnDemandies Awards dinner, featuring the music of DCIA Member Good Witch
Records' extraordinarily talented Glenda Benevides.
About MasurLaw
MasurLaw is an intellectual property and business law firm, which has served
some of the most innovative new companies in the entertainment and information
technology sectors during the past ten years. Examples include digital music
services, record labels, massively multiplayer games, independent films, mobile
entertainment, payment systems, and finance.
About Jun Group
Jun
Group is now a leading distributor of free licensed content in the global
file-sharing community. Its patent-pending process delivers high-quality music,
television, film, and video games to millions of consumers around the world who
share files via P2P software programs and other applications. Last year, Jun
Group brokered a deal that promoted Steve Winwood's music in the P2P marketplace
sponsored by Hearst-Argyle’s “Access Hollywood.” Currently, the Jun Group
distributes sponsored content to millions of consumers. Jun Group’s clients
include Cadbury Schweppes, PALM Entertainment, NBC Enterprises, and
others.
About Intent MediaWorks
Based in New York and Atlanta, Intent
is a privately held distributed media company designed to help partners tap into
and profit from secure distribution and commercialization of digital media.
Intent is establishing a standard for legal, secure, and profitable distribution
of digital media, and carving a niche as a trustworthy steward and savvy
marketer of digital content. To date Intent has signed more than 300 small
independent music labels and performing artists as content
suppliers.
About Digital Containers
DCI creates and distributes
digital rights management (DRM) software, allowing organizations and individuals
to profitably package, protect, distribute, and monetize all types of digital
content in P2P distribution. DCI’s DRM software operates on any device with a
web browser/java virtual machine, including computers PDAs, and cell phones.
About P2P Cash
P2P Cash is the first company to leverage proprietary
business rules and integration with public standards for financial information
interchange (XML and Web Services) to create the Intelligent Cash Unit (ICU)
standard for P2P direct payment systems. With its patent-pending ICU, P2P Cash
acts as a digital container to manage business rules associated with P2P
transactions, including electronic contracts, and to secure distribution of
digital products.
About Good Witch Records
GWR is a progressive
music label founded by performing artist Glenda Benevides, which has operated
since 1999 in partnership with production company In The LITE Productions. GWR
has produced albums, concerts, and music videos.
Background on the MGM v.
Grokster Supreme Court Case
Under principles established by the Supreme
Court, American capitalism has thrived by legally balancing the rights of
creators of popular entertainment content with those of inventors of new
distribution technologies for more than twenty years. Each party has enjoyed
sufficient protections to incentivize continued production and innovation, and
society has benefited from their output and progress.
In 1984, when the
high court was asked to outlaw Sony’s Betamax VCR, it ruled that if a technology
has the potential to be used for legitimate purposes, then the courts should not
stand in its way. As a direct result of that judgment against the motion picture
industry’s arguments, Hollywood developed the video sales-and-rental business
with a revenue stream that grew to triple theatrical box-office receipts within
a decade.
MGM v. Grokster brings these same issues into the digital
realm and raises the even more challenging one of how to regulate the Internet,
which already defies conventional geographic jurisdiction, continues to
technically evolve at lightning speeds, and disrupts nearly every business it
touches – ultimately to the benefit of consumers as well as
commerce.
Instead of confronting industry-leading P2P software developers
and distributors with lawsuits, major entertainment content providers should
negotiate with the top file-sharing companies to explore new business models and
develop requisite distribution agreements. The majors will find willing and
resourceful partners where they have so far sought only to create adversaries.
About the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA)
The DCIA
is a non-profit trade organization whose mission includes advancing the
commercial development of P2P. DCIA's Members include Alston & Bird, Altnet,
Bennett Lincoff, BlueMaze Entertainment, City Canyons Records, Claria
Corporation, Clickshare Service, Digital Containers, Digital Static, Good Witch
Records, Go-Kart Records, Grokster, Indie911, Intent MediaWorks, Javien, Jeftel,
Jillian Ann, Jun Group, KlikVU, MasurLaw, MusicDish Network, One Love Channel,
P2P Cash, Predixis, Project V-G, Rap Station, RazorPop, Relatable, Scooter
Scudieri, Seamless P2P, Shared Media Licensing, Sharman Networks, SMARTguard
Software, Sovereign Artists, SVC Financial, and Trymedia Systems. For more
information, please call 888-864-DCIA or visit http://www.dcia.info.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb223855.htm