[DMCA-Activists] P2Ps Respond to Senate Criticism

[Seth Johnson]

(Forwarded from Pho list)

-----Original Message-----
From: Hal Bringman <address@hidden>
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:16:49 -0800
Subject: pho: P2Ps Respond to Senate Criticism

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3113461

November 25, 2003
P2Ps Respond to Senate Criticism
By Roy Mark 
Calling congressional critics "sincere but misinformed," the principal 
trade group of the peer-to-peer (P2P) network industry hopes to meet 
in person with U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R.-SC) and other lawmakers 
who are considering legislation to regulate P2P activity.

On Friday, Graham sent a letter co-signed by five other senators 
calling on the P2Ps to "adhere to copyright laws and cease the 
distribution of pornography, especially child pornography, over their 
networks." The letter was sent to executives of Grokster, Bearshare, 
Blubster, eDonkey2000, LimeWire and Streamcast Networks.

"Purveyors of peer-to-peer technology have legal and moral obligations 
to conform to copyright laws, and end the pornographic trade over 
these networks," Graham wrote. "These programs expose our children to 
sexually explicit materials and provide an anonymous venue for child 
pornographers to hide behind the vale of technology."

Co-signers of the letter included Dianne Feinstein (D.-CA), Barbara 
Boxer (D.-CA), Gordon Smith (R.OR), Dick Durbin (D.-IL) and John 
Cornyn (R.-TX).

While long accused of facilitating music piracy, the P2P industry came 
under additional fire earlier this year as a source of readily 
available child pornography. The actual data on whether P2P networks 
have more pornography, child or otherwise, than Internet sites is 
vague, at best.

"We feel very strongly a meeting needs to take place in person. We 
actually appreciate the opportunity to get a commitment to get the 
actual facts out," Adam Eisgrau, executive director of the newly 
formed trade group, P2P United, told internetnews.com. "There is much 
to be learned about the real industry. We want to loudly shout it from 
the rooftops for people to ask us about this exciting new technology. 
P2P United exists to correct the record."

The charter members of P2P United are Free Peers, Grokster, Lime Wire, 
MetaMachine, Piolet Networks and StreamCast Networks. Kazaa, the 
world's largest P2P software distributor, is not a member of the new 
trade group.

Eisgrau, who is also a vice president at Flanagan Consulting, a 
political lobbying group formed by former Congressman Mike Flanagan, 
said vested interests such as the music and movie business have 
promoted misinformation about P2P networks in order to "cripple the 
P2P industry."

The decentralized nature of P2P networks, which allow users to 
download and directly share electronic files independent of a central 
server, has raised concerns among lawmakers and law enforcement 
officials that child pornography is spreading through the networks at 
an alarming rate. A number of reports have linked child pornography 
with pedophiles.

Since Napster, the first widely popular P2P program, was shut down by 
court order, newer file-sharing programs like Kazaa, Grokster and 
BearShare have all surged in popularity and have become one of the 
most popular applications on the Internet, particularly among children 
and young adults. Unlike Napster, which allowed only the sharing of 
music files, the newer P2P networks allow the sharing of digital 
images.

Graham's letter suggests P2P networks provide "meaningful and notice 
and warning" to users about the legal effects of using P2P software, 
incorporate "effective" copyright and pornography filters, and change 
the standard default "sharing" mechanism of P2P software.

"We strongly believe that voluntarily taking these three common sense 
steps would go a long way toward educating and protecting consumers," 
Graham wrote. "It also would clearly indicate your company's desire to 
become responsible corporate citizens."

Eisgrau countered that "this notion of irresponsibility is wrong," 
citing his members' online "Parent-to-Parent Resource Center" that 
provides parents information on how to protect themselves and their 
children from child pornography.

"Like all right-thinking people, our members are sickened by child 
pornography and regard misuse of the Internet for its dissemination as 
reprehensible," Esigrau said in September after a Senate Judiciary 
Committee meeting. "When it comes to Web-based child porn, however, 
technology isn't the perpetrator -- criminals are. These deviants have 
misused every legitimate technology, from the printing press to 
telephones, video, instant messaging and Internet search engines, to 
satisfy their lurid and illegal appetites." 

Hal Bringman
HBPR, LLC
O: +1.310.659.1060, ext. 111#
M: +1.310.895.0146
E: address@hidden
AIM: hbringman
MSN: halbringman
 


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