Digital Content Distribution Hearings Slated
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/28/2006 4:32:00 PM
The House Subcommittee on Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing March 29 on digital video content distribution, followed by one the following day concentrating on digital audio.
The hearings will deal with the tension between protecting digital content--considered key to the switch to digital delivery--and the "fair use" rights of consumers
Witnesses for the hearing will be Blake Krikorian, CEO, Sling Media; John Feehery, EVP, Motion Picture Association of America; Jim Denney, VP, product marketing, TiVo; Stevan Mitchell, VP of IP policy, Entertainment Software Association.
"Those who create digital content have certain rights to protect their work while consumers have certain rights to 'fair use' of that digital content," said Subommittee Chairman Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) in announcing the hearings.
"The ease in transferring large files has made the theft of copyrighted works a major concern to the content industry. In these hearings, we will examine the intersection of the content industry with the consumer electronics industry."
