Yesterday ISOC-DC hosted a breakfast round table discussion on SOPA/PIPA and reasonable alternatives to deal with Internet piracy.
The discussion was led by noted Internet scholar and author, Rebecca MacKinnon; The MPAA’s Chief Technology Policy Officer, Paul Brigner; as well as ISOC-DC’s own Michael Nelson of Georgetown University and CSC’s Leading Edge Forum.
@rmack spoke brilliantly about the problems with the copyright approach that led to SOPA as well as the intrinsic challenges to find solutions to Internet problems like piracy and the tradeoffs necessary in a multi-stakeholder environment.
Paul Brigner, who was not in fact burned at the stake by waves of Net Freedom activists, discussed not only the legitimate need to protect intellectual property and copyrighted content (read movies), but also of the film industry’s need to incorporate technology into it’s policy considerations. A very lively, informed, and productive discussion ensued.
