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Atlantic (digital) divide, part II - January 30, 2008

While content owners on both sides of the Atlantic are seeking to increase pressure on ISPs to implement anti-piracy measures, two different approaches to the issue seem to be emerging in Europe and the U.S. In a previous post, Media Wonk discussed the different legal and regulatory regimes here and in the EU governing content owner's ability to compel ISPs to disclose the identities of suspected illegal downloaders (DMCA subpoena power here, not so much there). But content owners are also pressing different anti-piracy tactics on ISPs on either side of the Pond.

In Europe, as became clear this week with the release of IFPI's Digital Music Report 2008 and U2 manager Paul McGuinness's keynote at Midem, sentiment seems to be coalescing around the idea of monitoring subscribers' activity, sending warnings when illegal downloading is detected, and then finally cutting off Internet access for those found to be repeat offenders.

In the U.S., on the other hand, content owners have generally stressed network filtering, such as in the "statement of principles" on user-generated content several major media companies issued last year.

Why the different approaches? Dunno, frankly. Part of it could simply reflect different concerns of music creators and video producers: Music owners, who seem to be driving the debate in Europe, tend to be most concerned about P2P file-sharing, while video owners, who are more prominent in the U.S., have grown more concerned with UGC platforms.

It could also be that American content owners are more sanguine about the effectiveness of filtering than their European counterparts. In comments at CES, NBC Universal general counsel Rick Cotton, who also serves as and chairman of the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, made it clear he believes filtering technology is ready for prime time. In France, in contrast, the "Mission Olivennes" formed my president Nicolas Sarkozy to come up with solutions to online piracy looked at various filtering systems but did not include any in its final recommendations. Instead, it recommended cutting off access for repeat offenders.

Media Wonk would welcome any thoughts readers might have on why the U.S. and Europe seem to be emphasizing different approaches.
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