Declan McCullagh's recent C|Net News interview with Sarah Deutsch, vice president and associate general counsel at Verizon, has garnered a lot of attention because Verizon is taken on the copyright interests by opposing certain legislation, fighting a recent supboena to determine the identity of a P2P copyright infringer and even going so far as to work with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Why telecoms back the pirate cause). Some opponents of recent copyright overreaching have hailed this new "ally." Before getting too excited, however, a closer look should be taken at what Ms. Deutsch actually said. As Way.nu points out, "The sleeping giant of the telcos has political clout that puts Hollywood to shame, but let's not forget that they may be our allies for now, but they ain't us, and their agenda isn't ours" (Telecoms on the side of customers).
A few myths below...
Myth 1: Verizon opposes the DMCA
Slashdot misleading wrote that Ms. Deutsch argued against the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Verizon Lawyer Explains Telecoms' DMCA Position). On the contrary, Ms. Deutsch helped negotiate the DMCA and considers it a "compromise." Indeed, Verizon "came up with a system called 'notice and takedown.' If there was an infringement residing on our network, we would take it down after receiving a valid notice from the copyright owner. And the user also has the opportunity to protest." Some compromise. I can have my website shut down for nearly a couple of weeks on the word of a copyright owner. Even if I do get my website backup, I have little recourse against those who got it shut down. Verizon was only interested in protecting itself from liability, not ensuring that the consumer had a fair shake.
Myth 2: Verizon opposes vigilante hacking by copyright owners
The only thing Ms. Deutsch explicitly opposes is permitting denial of service attacks, which would have a negative effect on Verizon's networks. Would a less broad bill past muster? We don't find out.
Myth 3: Verizon opposes a broadcast flag standard
Verizon only opposes a broadcast flag standard that they have not participated in creating. It isn't strange that a telecommunications company frames it opposition as the following: "For example, even assuming that Verizon was able to provide digital television over the Internet, would we be allowed to do so without a technology that has been blessed by three (movie) studios?" Telecommunications companies have been salivating for years over the possibility of providing television in competition with the cable companies. They're not concerned about customers, they're concerned "about the standard and our ability to offer innovative services in the future."
Myth 4: Verizon opposes the Biden anti-counterfeit bill
Once again, Verizon only opposes elements of bills that would lead to liability for Verizon, they're not opposed to the Biden bill because it would make it impossible for people to play media they own on non-permitted players:
There is an implication in the [Biden] bill that if we do not do something to stop that illegal watermark from crossing our network, that we could face both criminal and civil liability under the bill.
We sat down with the content community, with (Capitol) Hill staffers, and offered up several different alternatives to get the service provider out of the bill. We proposed, for instance, that it apply only to the party initiating the transmission. That was rejected. We tried definitional approaches that made it clear the bill did not apply to an intermediary. That was rejected.
We've had a difficult time obtaining a carve-out. We think it's a very simple issue. The bill is intended to target the bad guys. There shouldn't be a controversy over exempting an intermediary.
Myth 5: Verizon won't abandon the customer as soon as Verizon's needs are met
Ms. Deutsch states that, "We [Verizon] find ourselves with shared interests in making sure that fair use is preserved, that users' expectation in new digital services are fulfilled, and that copyright is ultimately a law that involves balancing the interests of many parties." How, exactly, did Verizon's support of the DMCA preserve fair use?
Look, it's wonderful that Verizon is opposing these bills ... we need all the help we can get, but I'm not impressed by this interview. It seems that in every case Verizon is looking out solely for itself. There is nothing wrong with that, but as Way.nu put it, "let's not forget that they may be our allies for now, but they ain't us, and their agenda isn't ours."