Neowin.net

Thanks MxxCon for posting this in our BPN Forum

Protecting intellectual property will take cooperation and innovation

The brief but dramatic history of Napster and other file-sharing services underscores an important legal and policy challenge posed by the Internet: how to protect intellectual property in the digital age.

At stake is the continued growth of the digital economy. Copyright holders—authors, musicians, filmmakers, software developers and others—will be able to take full advantage of the Internet as a powerful distribution channel only if their creations are appropriately protected.

The recording industry and movie studios, understandably concerned about the implications of file sharing, have been pressing Congress to act. A bill now before the U.S. Senate could result in the government selecting a specific anti-piracy technology and mandating its use in personal computers and other digital devices.

Piracy is deeply troubling, and the government clearly has an important role in the fight against it. But a government-mandated standard could actually hinder anti-piracy efforts by stifling technical innovation.

News source: Microsoft

As creators of the first digital media, software companies have long understood the value of intellectual property and the need to protect it. Microsoft and others in our industry have invested significantly in building anti-piracy safeguards into software products, yet even today, software piracy drains an estimated $12 billion each year from the economy and from thousands of businesses large and small.

Anti-piracy measures are self-defeating if, in tightening security, they impair technology’s usefulness or burden users. And even the best security is breakable. It must be improved continuously to stay ahead of hackers.

In fact, the technology industry is continually devising, testing and distributing innovative security solutions to protect all forms of intellectual property. Microsoft has pioneered important advances with our rights-management software for digital media and eBooks.

Microsoft is also working with other leaders in the technology, entertainment and consumer electronics fields to develop new security capabilities through organizations such as the Copy Protection Technology Working Group.

These cooperative efforts are making vital progress. For instance, critical standards for interoperability—the means for different digital rights management systems to work together—have recently been specified by the Moving Pictures Expert Group.

Meanwhile, some ideas advanced by the entertainment industry could have unintended consequences. One concept would require computers and other devices to inspect every bit of incoming content—every file, every e-mail—for digital “watermarks” that indicate copyrighted material. Potentially an invasion of users’ privacy, this measure would also slow the processing of data communications.

A more effective solution would be for entertainment companies to invest in digital distribution. Few companies have made much content available online, yet the popularity of file sharing among music fans suggests that the market is large. Making legitimate content available easily and affordably would help to counter the illegal supply.

Some file swappers may be ill informed about what constitutes a copyright violation and why it hurts the very artists whose work they enjoy. Industry-sponsored public education would help curb theft that, on the surface, might seem harmless.

The discussion of how best to protect digital content should not pit one set of copyright holders against another. We all share the same long-term interests in finding digital rights solutions that both protect intellectual property and work easily and flexibly for consumers.

Microsoft is committed to continuing the dialogue and to working constructively with all stakeholders. Our collective progress will benefit everyone—consumers most of all.