[Infowarrior] - Verizon: We don't want to play copyright cop on our network

[Richard Forno]

Verizon: We don't want to play copyright cop on our network
Posted by Anne Broache
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9861402-7.html

WASHINGTON--AT&T may be flirting with filters designed to ferret out pirated
material on its network, but Verizon Communications isn't interested.

That's the message that company Executive Vice President Tom Tauke delivered
during a luncheon discussion at an Internet policy conference here
Wednesday.

It's not that Verizon doesn't believe that it's vitally important to protect
intellectual property, said Tauke, who heads the company's public affairs,
policy, and communications department. Rather, the company is concerned that
inspecting individual packets, as rival AT&T is currently testing, poses
potential dangers to consumer privacy and opens up a host of other potential
watchdog duties that Verizon isn't keen on undertaking.

"From a business perspective, we really don't want to assume the role of
being police on the Internet," Tauke, a former Iowa Republican congressman,
said in response to a question from Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who
moderated discussion with the executive. "We are leery of using these
technologies on our networks."

The way Tauke sees it, if the expectation develops that Internet service
providers will actively police their networks for pirated content, that
could morph into other new responsibilities, such as rooting out online
pornography or illegal gambling Web sites.

Instead, Verizon prefers the existing legal framework established by the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, whereby service providers
generally respond to requests that they take down pirated content but aren't
obligated to play copyright cop.

The idea of ISPs' filtering traffic, which appears to be growing in
popularity in Europe, is controversial for a number of reasons. To some
legal experts, it seems contrary to the set-up established by the DMCA, for
which many prominent ISPs fought hard. And consumer activists have said it
raises serious privacy concerns.

In defending its filter experiment, AT&T has said it's trying to stem the
flow of peer-to-peer traffic that clogs its networks and degrades its
customers' surfing experiences. And there's clear pressure from some content
owners, such as NBC, which have suggested that ISPs that do such policing
stand the chance of brokering more favorable deals.

Drawing a smattering of applause from the lunching crowd, Tauke said
Verizon's not prepared to join those ranks. "We don't want to get into the
business of inspecting the bits and figuring out what is and is not
appropriate traffic," he said.