Ramping Up Cooperative Solutions to Piracy

The Center for Copyright Information (CCI), a partnership between the movie and music industries and the five largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs), released a report today on its progress during the 10-month ramp-up of the new Copyright Alert System (CAS).  And while it is still in its early stages, the results thus far are encouraging and the program is beginning to see positive results.  The program will be doubled in 2014 and we look forward to further success in the coming year.

This Copyright Alert System represents the most comprehensive collaboration by the content and tech communities to combat piracy through a voluntary initiative to date.  There is no one simple solution to piracy, but the program is an important step forward in building collaborative programs through which the content and tech communities can work together to protect the rights of creators and innovators and respect consumers and their privacy in the process.

Every day now we hear about new initiatives by the movie and TV industry and a wide range of other creative industries to provide content online in easily accessible and affordable ways, including over 100 sites for viewing legitimate online content in the United States. (see WheretoWatch.org) Many of these efforts are being launched through start-up investments in new technologies matched with increasingly innovative ways of marketing creative content.  For them to be successful, it is crucial that efforts to steal their digital creations, and pirate and counterfeit their online merchandise be fought by all the players involved in the online ecosystem.

I believe all stakeholders — the creative content industries, ISPS, search engines, advertising networks, payment processors, and cloud storage providers – share a responsibility to curb abusive practices online, including copyright infringement.  It is going to take everyone working together – both here in the United States and abroad — to find a way to create an Internet that works for everyone. The Copyright Alert System shows that collaboration is possible in our efforts against piracy.  I look forward to continuing to work with the ISPs and the music industry in this effort here in the United States, and developing other collaborative initiatives throughout the digital ecosystem with partners around the world.