A sparsely attended debate last night in Salomon 001 kicked off Digital Freedom University's evening at Brown, featuring a panel discussion about consumers' rights in the digital age followed by a free concert at the Underground.
Digital Freedom University is an offshoot of the Digital Freedom Campaign, a political group founded three years ago and based in Washington, D.C., that seeks to protect and expand consumer rights to use digital entertainment. The group's DFU program is in its early stages and will appear at several universities along the East Coast to spread awareness about entertainment issues in the era of the Internet.
Digital freedom is of particular importance to college students because they are targeted as a primary source of piracy. The Recording Industry Association of America has taken particular notice of this demographic, serving pre-litigation letters to universities around the country found to have students engaged in illegal file-sharing. In April, The Herald reported that RIAA served pre-litigation notices to the University accusing 12 undergraduate students of illegally downloading music.
Vijay Raghavan, the DFU program director, mentioned the litigation as he began the event before posing questions to panel members representing the so-called "content industry": David Green, vice president for public policy development at NBC Universal; Jason Oxman, vice president of communications for the Consumer Electronics Association; Jennifer Hardin, director of the music law group at Berklee College of Music; and Jim Fanale of the band Everyone But Pete.
The discussion focused on changes that must be made within the content industry to adapt copyright law to the digital age. Introducing the central conflict facing the entertainment industry, Oxman said current legislation regarding digital media "restricts the ability to make full and free usage of the devices in your pockets, on your desk, in your living room."
DFU's proposed solution, supported by Oxman, is to legislate for "free and unfettered use of content (that consumers) lawfully own," specifically by adapting digital media to be usable with all personal entertainment devices.
Apple Inc. was the subject of much criticism. In a phone interview with The Herald, DFC spokesman Jake Ward described an "entertainment monopoly" created in part by the popularity of the iPod and its affiliated technologies, including the iTunes Store. The music and video files used by Apple are protected by Digital Rights Management, a type of access control which limits the extent of a copyright to certain media devices. Oxman criticized this limitation, saying that the public demands digital media "at a fair price and the ability to do what they want with it," theorizing that this solution would "kill any desire for file-sharing."
Green, crediting himself as the "designated corporate tool," defended the RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America, explaining that the recent flurries of litigation against people illegally downloading entertainment is intended to counteract the "$18 billion a year movie studios lose to piracy (and the) $6 million lost for the music industry."
Though Oxman asserted that "the recording industry seems to think it's a good business plan to sue their most viable customers," and added, "I would argue that it's not," Green was prepared with a rebuttal.
"The RIAA did lots and lots of focus groups on what would educate people about the illegality of file-sharing," Green explained. The focus groups found that what might work is "the fear of being caught, hence lawsuits."
Debate between Green and Oxman dominated the panel discussion, as the two represented the entertainment and electronics industries, but Hardin and Fanale added their comments as well. Green promoted litigation against consumers, but Hardin responded that, as a student, she thinks popular reaction to industry litigation has been contrary to what groups like the RIAA had hoped for.
"It's pissing students off," she said. "The perception is that the RIAA just decided, 'Yeah, let's scare our customers.' "
Everyone But Pete's Fanale admitted that he knew little about the legal side of the music industry, but he said that he did not have a problem with file-sharing because it is the cheapest medium of "getting (their) music out there."
"The Internet is huge for us in this stage in our careers. ... (It's) the one tool we use to reach out to everyone we can," he said. The band, which self-promotes on MySpace and their Web site, has not signed with a label.
Fanale explained that even online distributors take a lion's share of the profits. "So for us, file-sharing is a positive thing."
But NBC's Green was unsympathetic, emphasizing the negative impact of illegal downloading. "A single person can cause enormous damage to an entire industry, and that's never been the case before," he said.
Speaking on behalf of the CEA, Oxman's remarks were more positive. "People are basically good, people are basically law-abiding and given the choice between a legal option and an illegal option, people will choose the legal one," he said.
DFC spokesman Ward echoed his view, emphasizing that while the DFC is advocating that the Internet is an opportunity and not a threat for entertainment, the group is "absolutely against piracy."
"We don't condone piracy, but the best way to combat it is to provide a legal venue" to acquire entertainment, he said.
After the event, DFU program director Raghavan told The Herald, "We are at an unbelievable tipping point in policy making, the policies made today could be in effect 100 years from now."
The evening was organized by DFU in conjunction with Brown University Free Culture, the Brown chapter of Students for Free Culture. DFU will continue its campus tour tomorrow night at Northeastern University and Monday night at Boston University.
