In Los Angeles yesterday, two groups that have been rather hostile to one another over the past year about illegal copying of music and movies on campus—representatives from higher education and from the entertainment industry—took a meeting.
The University of California system and the Motion Picture Association of America brought together about 200 people to discuss “The expanding universe of Internet entertainment,” as the workshop was titled. Among them: officials from the sponsoring organizations, as well as Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Yahoo!, Facebook, Illinois State University, Indiana University, Carnegie Mellon University, and many more.
The press release recounting the meeting, however, hinted at the somewhat different approaches of the groups. “The Internet is a tremendous tool in educating the next generation of students, scientists, teachers and leaders,” said Kristine Hafner, Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer for the University of California system.
But Dean Garfield, Chief Strategic Officer of the MPAA, was cited in the release emphasizing new choices for consumers—as long as they didn’t involve unauthorized exploitation and did support viable business models. Translation: use our material, but don’t copy and share it without paying us for it. —Josh Fischman
