[x-pubpol] Report: Former RIAA Lobbyist Firm Hired as Independent Technical Expert to Review 'Six Strikes' System

[Konstantinos Komaitis]

Thanks Joly - I cane across the same article a couple of days ago. This could be one of the things we could discuss at the NA iNet in November.

Cheers

KK


Konstantinos Komaitis
Policy Advisor,
Internet Society
komaitis at isoc.org
tel: +41 22 807 1453






On Oct 23, 2012, at 9:45 PM, Joly MacFie wrote:

> 
> 
> http://gamepolitics.com/2012/10/22/report-former-riaa-lobbyist-firm-hired-independent-technical-expert-review-six-strikes-sy
> 
> Report: Former RIAA Lobbyist Firm Hired as Independent Technical Expert to
> Review 'Six Strikes' System
> 
> Next month the "Six Strikes" system to deal with online piracy and illegal
> file-sharing will be fully operational in the United States. The new rules
> - mutually agreed on by several major ISP's and trade groups representing
> intellectual property holders (the RIAA, and the MPAA) required that
> copyright infringement claims be investigated by an external company. This
> was one of the sticking points for ISPs and rightsholders seemed to happily
> comply.
> 
> Recently it was revealed that MarkMonitor would be the company
> investigating claims. After the system was tested it was supposed to be
> reviewed by an "independent and impartial technical expert" to make sure it
> offered "accuracy and security."
> 
> "We’ve worked hard to set up a program that is accurate, fair and protects
> consumer interests at every step in the process. For example, we retained a
> recognized technology expert, Stroz Friedberg, to evaluate the content
> community’s system (run by MarkMonitor) for identifying alleged
> infringement over peer-to-peer networks.”
> 
> While this may sound like good news, it is actually quite a shocker
> considering the history of the company retained to safeguard the accuracy
> of "six-strikes” scheme.
> 
> Stroz Friedberg served as the RIAA’s lobbying firm for half a decade 2004
> and 2009. During that time the company lobbied extensively in Washington on
> behalf of the RIAA. The leading lobbyists on record at that time was
> Executive Managing Director Beryl Howell, who bent the ear of members of
> the Congress and Senate for copyright laws regarding digital music. Now
> Howell serves as a federal judge who often rules on mass-BitTorrent
> lawsuits.
> 
> "It’s a disappointing choice, particularly in light of CCI’s professed
> desire to build public confidence in CAS and the fairness of its
> processes," said University of Idaho Law Professor Annemarie Bridy. "It
> would have been refreshing to see an academic computer scientist or some
> other truly independent party appointed to fill that important role."
> 
> "CCI’s choice of a former RIAA lobbying firm makes it clear that the
> copyright owner parties to the Memorandum of Understanding were more
> interested in appointing someone they trust than in appointing someone the
> public can trust," she adds.
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
> WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
>  http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
>  VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -
> _______________________________________________
> x-pubpol mailing list
> x-pubpol at lists.isoc-ny.org
> http://lists.isoc-ny.org/listinfo.cgi/x-pubpol-isoc-ny.org
> 
> 
> "The Internet is for everyone"