NBC - NBC LOSING PIRACY WAR, ZUCKER ADMITS

Declaring that "the unfortunate truth is that today we are losing the battle" against Internet piracy, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker asked members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to unite with the entertainment industry in an effort to combat the threat. Zucker cited a new study by the Institute for Policy Innovation, founded by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, which claimed that intellectual property piracy is a $60-billion-a-year enterprise, costing the economy 373,000 jobs and $2.6 billion in lost taxes. The Chamber currently is pushing for the creation of an intellectual property enforcement coordinator in the White House. Zucker called for all Internet service providers, university networks, search engines and social-networking sites to install filters to block pirated content. "Technology has been and continues to be an incredibly powerful tool to combat theft," he said. Meanwhile, the techie blog Tech Dirt has faulted the news media for failing to examine carefully what it claims are "inflated" claims and "questionable assumptions" about online piracy made by the entertainment industry.

04/10/2007