Meeting Leaves Some Unhappy
Public interest and tech industry advocates voiced disappointment about being left out of a round table discussion Tuesday afternoon being hosted by Vice President Biden and several cabinet officials to discuss enforcing laws against the piracy of intellectual property.
In addition to the vice president, the event will feature a who's who of Obama administration officials who have a role to play in enforcing IP laws. They include Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, FBI Director Robert Mueller, U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos and the White House's new IP enforcement coordinator, Victoria Espinel. The industry participants include executives from the movie studios, record companies, book publishers, television networks and the heads of the Motion Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of America, as well as unions representing actors and directors.
Both Public Knowledge and TechAmerica released statements arguing that they have important roles to play in the debate. "Hopefully the administration can avoid this oversight in the future and include all of the stakeholders," said TechAmerica President Phil Bond, who described being left out of the meeting as receiving a "political lump of coal" for the holidays. "The technology and content industries depend upon each other in the digital economy. We will have to work together to protect privacy and to help the government enforce the law."
Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn noted that the White House touted the meeting as bringing together "all the stakeholders" on ways to combat piracy. But public interest groups, technology companies and Internet service providers were not invited nor was anyone "who questions the need for Draconian governmental policies on behalf of the privileged special interest group for whom this meeting is being held is on the guest list," Sohn said. "If Vice President Biden is truly interested in learning more about intellectual property, we hope he will continue his consultations with a group of people who share a wider range of views than those with whom he will meet today." In response, a White House official said Tuesday's discussion is "the first of what we expect to be several meetings between those who are affected by the theft of intellectual property and the administration."
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