Robert Holleyman is President and CEO of the Business Software Alliance

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) today released its fifth annual Global
Software Piracy Report, and it contains both good news and bad news about the
use of unlicensed, illegal personal computer (PC) software. 

The good news is that years of crime-fighting efforts by government, law
enforcement, and industry are paying off in reduced piracy rates in nearly
two-thirds of the 108 countries studied. 

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SAN JOSE, CA:  Okay, I promise this is my last post from Media Access
Project's Innovation '08, the first of two conferences before Silicon Valley
digerati with the aim of developing consensus on tech policy for the next
President. (Read my entries on working
together, the role
of government, and PRO-IP).

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SAN JOSE, CA:  I've been so busy traveling, I haven't had time to
comment on the House's overwhelming passage last week of the PRO-IP Act by House
Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers, beyond our statement.
Any time you win by a spread of about 400 votes, that's pretty impressive. Kudos
to all those who voted for the legislation, and may the Senate move swiftly
either on this bill or existing legislation that could quickly be paired to
it.

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SAN JOSE, CA:  As I mentioned previously,
I'm here in Silicon Valley to participate in Media Access Project's Innovation
'08, a series of discussions designed to result in tech policy recommendations
for the next President. My fellow panelists were former FTC Commissioner Mozelle
Thompson, Wikipedia's Mike Godwin and Microsoft's Jule Sigall. When MAP's Andrew
Schwartzman, the moderator for our panel, asked me the key question of the
panel, namely what government should do to ensure the flow of creative works to
consumers, my answer was simple: "Get out of the way."

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SAN JOSE, CA:  I'm here at Media Access Project's Innovation '08, the
first of three panels designed to craft tech policy regulations for the next
President. We're at eBay hq in its Town Hall; FYI, the walls and carpeting are
striped with the eBay log's red, blue, yellow and green. It's an interesting
look, but strikes me as more of a day care center than a major corporation.

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HOLLYWOOD, CA:  I've been speaking for several years now on the fact
that the creative industries continue to show more flexibility in terms of
licensing their works to platforms and distributors. What's nice is, every time
I speak at a conference like Digital
Hollywood, there is still more evidence to support that, and more panelists
and attendees who not only agree with it but are living it.

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HOLLYWOOD, CA: One thing reporters learn when they're on the job
awhile is that when covering a panel discussion, the best quotes tend not to
come form the formal presentations, but rather from the Q&A at the end. So
it was today at Digital
Hollywood Spring 2008 (which by the way continues to be presented in
concurrent panels to standing-room-only ballrooms). An audience member, after
listening to a discussion of the interaction among creative works producers,
video host services and advertisers, asked what role unions played in that
equation.

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This morning the executive producer of Hannah Montana testified before
the House Commerce Telecom Subcommittee on network management. Steve Peterman,
representing the Writers Guild of America, West, made some important
distinctions between legal and illegal creative works online:

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HOLLYWOOD, CA: Ivana Ma, Director of Development, Generate: "We talk
about how Hollywood needs to change. We also need change in Silicon Valley and
Madison Avenue. Until we have all three we won't really be there."

Well said.

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HOLLYWOOD, CA: I'm afraid this blog post won't be as provocative as
that title suggests, but please keep reading.

Thanks.

Here at the first day of Digital
Hollywood Spring 2008, a recurring theme among the three afternoon panels I
attended was this: Is it better for creative works to be shown and/or
distributed on the web by the copyright owners, or by a third party? The
answer:

Yes.

That's the beauty of the Internet, there are no right or wrong answers. Any
given consumer, at any given time, is going to have his or her own way of doing
things, so so you might as well cater to all of them.

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