Is piracy a priority?

Gonzales hands piracy fight to H'w'd

By BEN FRITZ

Gonzales

HOLLYWOOD -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has a message for Hollywood: The feds will help with piracy where they can, but they've got bigger fish to fry.

Marking his first outreach effort to the entertainment industry, the recently installed top law enforcement official in the country said that he's committed to combating intellectual property theft but that it will remain a low priority compared to issues like terrorism.

Despite a renewed commitment against piracy put together by former A.G. John Ashcroft last fall (Daily Variety, Oct. 13) and recently passed legislation making camcordering a federal crime (Daily Variety, April 28), Gonzales said he counts on studios and labels to do much of the legwork to combat illegal downloading and bootlegging.

"I have an obligation to enforce the law and go after criminals," Gonzales said. "There are other priorities, especially terrorism. We will use our limited resources to focus on what's most effective."

Keep tips coming

He added that while the federal government will pursue high-profile cases against pirates, it relies on tips from studios, which often provide much of the evidence to pursue online movie pirates.

He also said that in many illegal downloading cases, civil action by studios is more appropriate than criminal enforcement.

Gonzales' comments came at an event at UCLA on Thursday put together by Court TV, the Justice Dept. of Justice and the Motion Picture Assn. of America to educate high school students about piracy.

A number of speakers, including Gonzales, SAG secretary-treasurer James Cromwell, federal prosecutors, an FBI agent and a convicted pirate doing community service spoke to a group of L.A. students for a program that will air on the cable net.

Speaking later to reporters, Gonzales said he made his appearance to "acknowledge (piracy) is a priority to this community."

MPAA topper Dan Glickman was also present.

Later in the day, he was scheduled to introduce the attorney general to reps from all the major studios.

Students skeptical

Students at the event asked a number of skeptical questions about online movie piracy, with many focusing on why they should pay high prices at theaters to subsidize big budgets and the stars' multimillion-dollar salaries.

Speakers, especially Cromwell, emphasized that most cast and crew earn middle-class wages and would be hurt by lower residuals if piracy cuts into DVD and ticket sales.

Ironically, despite much industry and government concern over marketing R-rated films to kids, event full of high school students featured a poster for R-rated remake "The Amityville Horror."