Today’s guest blog is written by Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Today’s conviction in a Swedish court of the four individuals behind Pirate Bay is an important statement about the growing global commitment to intellectual property rights as a cornerstone of the rule of the law in a connected, global information society. In a modern world in which more and more people around the globe make their living through their creativity and the power and value of their ideas, intellectual property rights are increasingly at the heart of global economic health.

MPAA was proud to participate with local rightsholders in this landmark proceeding, and we will continue to pursue those who seek to illegally profit from the creative works of others.

How we will we prevail? We continue to work with producers, governments and law enforcement around the globe to rally the world to the cause of protecting intellectual property rights. We need to be consistent and firm in demonstrating that there are consequences for this brand of mass exploitation.

Equally important, we need to make sure that this industry and this artform embrace technology in a positive and constructive way. We need to be responsive to consumers who clearly want to enjoy our products in diverse and innovative ways. We need to deliver on the promise of the digital era and give folks multiple choices for enjoying the genuine article online in fair and flexible ways.

Here, we’re making real progress. In the U.S. alone, there are now more than 50 sites that offer consumers legal ways to enjoy the movies and TV shows they love—in all their authentic and complete glory.

Most legal services providing access to film and television content are country-specific. New services are being launched throughout Europe on an on-going basis, but such services face significant challenges as long as online piracy remains widespread through the activities of sites such as The Pirate Bay.

Today’s decision marks an important victory—and a defining opportunity. This is the moment for creative industries to accelerate our efforts to embrace technology and expand the universe of constructive connections that serve filmmakers and fans alike.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 3:08 pm by admin and is filed under copyright law, copyright opponents, creators, economy, international, internet, p2p, piracy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.