VALENTI SAYS 'CUT' TO FILM PIRACY.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Calling popular file-swapping networks like Kazaa ``thieves' nests'' that bilk bilk tr.v. bilked, bilk·ing, bilks 1. a. To defraud, cheat, or swindle: made millions bilking wealthy clients on art sales. b. the movie industry out of more than $3.5 billion each year, Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Jack Valenti said Thursday he thinks those services should be shut down. ``Either shut them down or make them go legal,'' Valenti said in a Capitol Hill briefing for lawmakers and congressional aides on entertainment industry issues, particularly the illegal downloading of box office and DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. movies. Valenti told the Congressional Entertainment Caucus, chaired by Rep. Diane Watson Diane Edith Watson PhD (born November 12 1933), American politician, has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing the 33rd District of California (map). , D-Los Angeles, that between 400,000 and 600,000 films are illegally downloaded and uploaded daily. ``This is a problem that broods over the future of America's motion picture industry,'' he said, noting that the movie industry contributes to about 5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. ``This goes beyond mere thievery Thievery See also Gangsterism, Highwaymen, Outlawry. Alfarache, Guzmán de picaresque, peripatetic thief; lived by unscrupulous wits. [Span. Lit. . This has to do with the diminution of the American economic engine,'' he said. In April, the FBI charged a Los Angeles man, 33-year-old Johnny Ray Gasca, in connection with taping prerelease pre·re·lease n. Something released before an official or scheduled date. adj. Of or relating to an interval preceding an official or scheduled release: screenings of motion pictures such as ``Anger Management'' and ``The Core.'' Officials who searched Gasca's home found 15 VHS (Video Home System) A half-inch, analog videocassette recorder (VCR) format introduced by JVC in 1976 to compete with Sony's Betamax, introduced a year earlier. recorders, video editing equipment and other devices they believed he used to pirate films, FBI Special Agent George Steuer said. Gasca is awaiting trial on charges of copyright infringement. Despite that high-profile case, however, federal officials acknowledged that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks diverted resources away from cracking down on piracy. ``A significant amount of resources left the white collar division and went to counterintelligence coun·ter·in·tel·li·gence n. The branch of an intelligence service charged with keeping sensitive information from an enemy, deceiving that enemy, preventing subversion and sabotage, and collecting political and military information. ,'' said Chris Dowd, a special agent for intellectual property rights in the FBI's cybercrime cybercrime also known as computer crime Any use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy. division. Congress is not currently considering legislation to address the Internet file-sharing problems. Rather, the movie industry is leaning on universities to erect firewalls on campuses to prevent downloads. Valenti also said technology companies and copyright owners are working to develop security standards to prevent copyrighted works from unauthorized reproduction and distribution. Acknowledging that someone will always find a way to work past encryptions, Valenti said, ``We're trying to make it so difficult to steal that most people will say, oh, the hell with it.'' Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
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