[x-pubpol] Digital rights battle is only just getting started

[Joly MacFie]

* notable as story evidently syndicated globally..

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/digital-rights-battle-is-only-just-getting-started-20120406-1wgfw.htm

Matthew Hall
April 9, 2012 - 7:42AM

If people want to do something, they will because the technology
allows, says insider.

The collapse of proposed US copyright laws like SOPA and PIPA that
aimed to curb online piracy and copyright infringement has underlined
the fact that the digital rights space is a fluid environment open to
negotiation, according to an American industry insider.
Jaafer Haidar of Synacor, a leading multi-platform tech provider,
believes a key factor in the battle and an acute challenge facing
legislators is that fast-evolving technology has the ability to
outstrip any proposed legal controls.

"The digital rights space is continuously being figured out as new
services, new offerings, are brought online," Haidar said.


"This is really driven by consumer behaviour. If I start wanting to do
something I am going to find out a way to do so because technology is
allowing me to do that."
Haidar's view carries weight that may jar with legislators – his role
with Synacor is to provide consumers with legal – and monetised –
content from telecommunication, cable, and satellite companies.

"Sometime, somewhere, we will land on what everyone agrees on but it
is extremely difficult to control user behaviour when the technology
gives the freedom to do what you want," said Haidar.

Speaking at a New York Technology Council event hosted by the US
Department of State last week, Haidar said laws had to balance
copyright issues with maintaining the integrity of the internet.

"What was really interesting was seeing the internet community revolt
against these bills," Haidar said of the global protests that
followed.

"What ended up happening was that the powers that be ended up
realising that these laws were too far-reaching and weren't specific
enough to take action against pirated content. They left the door open
to basically say you can shut down a small person's website if they
have an item of content on it.

"[The laws] disrupt the fabric of what the internet really is – a
place where you go to get great content whether it is authenticated,
which is a lot of the work that we do, or it is free, or social
sharing. A lot of that comes to a halt if that legislation is taken
and misused."
As head of Synacor's mobile and multi-screen strategy, Haidar's
corporate mission is to make TV available to people "everywhere".

Recently listed on Nasdaq, the company provides infrastructure and
content to cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies in North
America, Europe, and Asia, including Verizon and Toshiba.

Haidar added that while laws are sensitive for consumers as they
demand content at anytime and on multiple platforms, rights holders
will continue to demand legitimate use of content on the internet.

"We are still on that wave," Haidar said. "There will be legislation
that revisits this. It was a first pass to say let's see if we can get
this legislation through. Then there was a realisation that it has to
be a lot more focused and a lot more controlled because [the proposals
as written] opened the door to fundamentally changing the internet.

"The people realised this at first, and then the governments and
legislators realised it. They said, 'Listen, we need to be sensitive
to what this can mean and not just try to fill legislation out there'.

"It is an interesting time when you have this fight between pirate
content and legal content and trying to control what users can do and
what company ownership of content really means."

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