HOLLYWOOD vs.SILICON VALLEY

Former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd - you remember ....... Dodd-Frank, the legislation enacted by Congress which was intended to right the wrongs and abuses of the banking industry which caused the financial melt-down of 2008.  Yes, that Chris Dodd, now the Chairman of the Motion Picture Assoc. of America,  who was offering a high-five to  tech industry honchos at a Commonwealth  Club of California dinner last week.

The conciliatory gesture came on the heels of the movie industry's humiliating defeat in their efforts to control content piracy on the Internet. The MPAA and the studios were shocked by the huge defeat of legislation they lobbied hard for, and now it was all about face-saving and passing the peace pipe.  In his speech, Dodd noted that Google, which was the lead opponent against the studios, by contrast has the most content deals with Hollywood.

The anti-piracy legislation that was voted down in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Represenatives were the Stop Online Protection Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

"We call them audiences, you call them users, but giving them the best possible experience is a shared goal" Dodd told the dinner attendees. "In the end, we all report to the same people. I want you to know that our community is listening, continuously innovating, and hungry for more. And we know we can't do this without the work of the brilliant and creative minds behind the new devices, internet platforms, and other digital outlets."

Dodd also suggested it was important for both Hollywood and Silicon Valley to bury the hatchet and work together to enable seamless content sharing, saying, "We have to break through the notion that this is a zero-sum game, we need to benefit from each others success."

Good intentions aside, both groups have been preparing for further conflict.  The MPAA and studios have bolstered their social media strengths while its Silicon foes recently formed the Internet Defense League, whose purpose is to immediately respond to any threat to the Internet from Hollywood.

CMG believes the war has just begun!


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Jim Lavorato
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