[Discuss-gnuradio] AOL Time Warner/Intel issue joint statement of principles on digital copyright infringement

[John Gilmore]

The short summary is that both of them support outlawing GNU Radio.

        John

From: Mike Godwin <address@hidden>
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 14:32:10 -0500
To: address@hidden
Cc: address@hidden, address@hidden
Subject: AOL Time Warner/Intel issue joint statement of principles on
 digital copyright infringement

AOL Time Warner - Intel Joint Statement of Principles

Introduction: A Shared Vision
AOL Time Warner (AOLTW) and Intel succeed as businesses by delivering
value to consumers. We believe that strong protection of intellectual
property in both traditional and new environments is essential for
realizing this value proposition. We have been working
co-operatively, along with others, for several years to design
solutions to the challenges posed by the digital environment so that
its opportunities may be safely embraced to the benefit of all
parties. While the issues are complex, we believe that focused
cross-industry efforts have in the past and can in the future work
well to meet the challenges. The process is not simple or easy; it
involves the balancing of interests and demands negotiated
compromises. Nevertheless, we believe that the lead must come from
the private sector, complemented where necessary by targeted and
constructive government action. We do not, however, think that the
government can productively or effectively mandate broad design
requirements across the spectrum of products, devices, and services.

Achievements To Date
Over the past several years, Intel and AOLTW have worked together
with other companies in private sector cross-industry efforts to
develop several content protection solutions. These solutions include
Content Protection for Pre-recorded Media ("CPPM") for protecting
pre-recorded audio content on DVD Audio, and protection for digital
content as it moves among devices in the consumer home and personal
environment on digital networks (Digital Transmission Content
Protection ("DTCP") and High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection
("HDCP")) and recordable media (Content Protection for Recordable
Media ("CPRM")). Both AOLTW and Intel have endorsed and are committed
to the rapid deployment of all of these content protection solutions.
The goal of these efforts is to create an overall architecture for
protecting digital content throughout its distribution life so that
it does not "leak" out in an unprotected manner for easy capture by
digital pirates, including users who traffic in copyrighted works on
peer to peer systems. In each case, the solutions have been developed
by information technology ("IT") and consumer electronics ("CE")
companies in consultation with studios and music labels and then
implemented through private licenses. These content protection
solutions are made available to all interested product manufacturers
and content companies and are already enjoying adoption in the
marketplace, with DVD video being the most notable example of wide
marketplace adoption.

Current Opportunities and Challenges
Continued advances in digital technology offer both great opportunity
and challenges. AOLTW and Intel both seek to embrace the opportunity
of new digital technology and develop new modes of distribution that
will bring value to consumers and our companies. We also realize that
digital technology provides the ability to create easily and
redistribute globally unlimited perfect copies, posing particularly
damaging and challenging piracy risks. Such digital piracy should
neither be tolerated nor subject to benign neglect. Securing adequate
protection for copyrighted works in the digital environment will
allow development of viable business models. Viable business models
will in turn help drive adoption of broadband and the innovation and
sale of new products (e.g. portable devices, PCs, digital
televisions, and subscription services), and expanded consumer
choices through an increasing variety of formats, consumption
options, and price points for enjoying copyrighted works.

Future Efforts
The industry efforts to date have concentrated on developing systems
to secure content from its initial distribution through the delivery
and consumption chain. These efforts are generally unable to provide
protection when content is delivered "in the clear" to legacy
systems. One such example is the protection of terrestrial digital
broadcast that is delivered "in the clear." Both of our companies
have been actively participating in the Broadcast Protection
Discussion Group. Significant progress has been made towards a
technical solution that would involve a "broadcast flag" to signal
that redistribution of digital broadcast content over the Internet is
not authorized. Both Intel and AOLTW acknowledge that in order to
ensure that detection of and proper response to such a broadcast flag
occurs in digital broadcast receiver products, some narrowly focused
government regulation will be necessary. This is an example of how
private multi-industry efforts can yield a technical solution where
narrow government action is appropriate for proper enforcement of
that consensus solution. Furthermore, this example also illustrates
the value of government complementing productive cooperation among
relevant industries to find solutions, as has been done in this
instance through FCC and legislative forums.
    Beyond digital broadcasting, additional issues exist that
require serious private industry and public attention. One is the
so-called "analog hole." Video content, even when delivered digitally
in a protected manner, must be converted to an unprotected analog
format to be viewed using legacy equipment (e.g., the millions of
analog television sets already in consumers' homes). Once content is
in an unprotected analog form, it may be converted back to a digital
form and subjected to widespread, unauthorized redistribution via
peer-to-peer as well as more traditional piracy channels. Private
industry efforts are underway to select a watermark technology that
can embed usage rules in content. Further efforts, including the
possibility of narrowly focused government measures, will be required
to determine the manner in which such a watermark technology can be
best implemented to mitigate the analog hole.
    An even more complicated problem is the phenomenon of
unconstrained unauthorized copying and redistribution of copyrighted
content over peer-to-peer networks. One contributing factor is the
growing variety of increasingly decentralized peer-to-peer networks
(e.g., Morpheus, Limewire, etc). Another is that content reaches peer
to peer networks from a variety of sources including unprotected
distribution, circumvention of protected content, camcording from
theater screens, and diversion during production. No single silver
bullet solution - technical, legal, legislative, or business - exists
to address this thorny form of piracy. Broad government mandates that
restrict innovation, reduce competition, and provide a fixed target
for hackers are not the answer. Active co-operation and participation
of all sectors--content, CE, IT, service providers, and
government--will be necessary to develop a range of solutions to this
complex problem.

We hope that this joint statement will spark constructive discussion
among relevant industries, consumer groups and the general public. We
invite others in the content, IT and CE industries to voice their
support for the principles contained herein.