AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Glickman not neutral on net neutrality - The Hollywood Reporter

Complete ShoWest coverage

LAS VEGAS — Don’t regulate cyberspace.

MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman used his annual ShoWest address to issue that warning to Washington as the former Beltway pol formally came out in opposition to so-called net neutrality legislation.

“Government regulation of the Internet would impede our ability to respond to consumers in innovative ways,” Glickman said Tuesday. “And it would impair the ability of broadband providers to address the serious and rampant piracy problems occurring over the networks today.”

That latter issue always is a big talking point at ShoWest. Distributors and exhibitors alike view the unauthorized video camera recording of films — which then show up on the Internet as well as on pirated DVDs — as picking their pockets big-time.

But Glickman’s joining the policy debate about proposed regulation of the Internet also reflects growing concern by MPAA member studios that any such law could prevent them from effectively tapping the Internet as an ancillary distribution channel and profit center.

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