On Wednesday, December 8, DGA President Taylor Hackford called on the entertainment industry to make the fight against Internet theft a top priority.
Hackford delivered the creative keynote address at the Entertainment Content Protection Summit produced by Variety and the Content Storage and Delivery Association. He spoke passionately about the urgent need to protect the films and television shows created by DGA members and others in the entertainment community from Internet thieves.
"I think this is the most threatening issue that has hit our industry in its entire history," he stated. "If we don’t do something about digital theft, we will not be in business. To our members, I say, 'This is a question of the future of professional filmmaking'."
The audience applauded when Hackford took issue with the term commonly used to refer to those who engage in Internet theft. "Get rid of that word 'pirate'," he said. "They're thieves – call it what it is. Internet theft."
Hackford underscored the growing problem of rogue websites, which often look like legitimate, professional websites but are actually operated by profiteers who illegally traffic in films and television shows, for a subscription fee, that they had no part in financing or creating. The DGA supports recent legislation introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy that seeks to enable law enforcement to more easily shut down these rogue sites, including cutting off their various sources of funding such as advertising and payment services.
The keynote address was part of a day-long conference addressing content protection. Other speakers and audience members included computer and Internet security experts, anti-piracy executives and chief executive officers of technology companies.
Debunking a popular argument by those who oppose content protection, Hackford noted, "They say the entertainment industry just hasn't developed the new business models that will allow them to harness the power of the Internet."
"That's a really good sound bite," he commented. "The problem is, no business model that we can create will ever compete with free."
