Executives from Hollywood’s six major studios all declined to comment Friday on the turn of events. But many in the creative community were seething about how they lost the public debate over bills that they say are desperately needed to
BY RICHARD VERRIER | LOS ANGELES TIMES
LOS ANGELES — After a week in which their anti-piracy legislation got derailed by the full force of the Internet lobby, the mood in Hollywood was one of anger, frustration and a growing resignation that the entertainment industry will be forced to accept a much weaker law than originally envisioned.
A full-on counterattack by a tech industry opposed to the toughest elements in the congressional bills, including a well-publicized Wednesday shutdown by key Internet sites, halted the legislation.
With supporters defecting, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Friday postponed a key procedural vote. The lead sponsor of the companion bill in the House said he would redraft the proposed law in search of consensus.
The developments were a setback for former Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, who has made fighting online piracy his No. 1 priority since becoming head of the Motion Picture Association of America last March. The Connecticut Democrat was selected in part for his political savvy and 30-year experience in the Senate.
Dodd said Friday that the industry would now seek a compromise version of the legislation. He acknowledged that Hollywood lost the public relations battle and blamed his Silicon Valley counterparts.
“You’ve got an opponent who has the capacity to reach millions of people with a click of a mouse and there’s no fact-checker. They can say whatever they want,” he said. “We need to engage in a far better education process. People need to know … that 98 percent of people who work in the entertainment industry make $55,000 a year. They’re not moguls and they’re not walking red carpets.”
That message, however, has so far failed to resonate with the America public, which has shown more sympathy for the tech companies promoting the idea that the bills — the Protect Intellectual Property Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act — would hurt legitimate websites and stifle freedom of speech on the Web.
Hollywood now must conduct PR damage control and convince tech-savvy Americans that it isn’t the bad guy.
“What they need to do is lick their wounds, see what happened and do a lot of test messaging right now because clearly the one they were using wasn’t effective,” said veteran Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman, vice chairman of Reputation.com, a reputation management company.
Rob Beschizza, managing editor of the digital culture website BoingBoing.net, which joined the Internet “blackout,” said many people were suspicious of the entertainment industry’s inside-the-Beltway lobbying effort.
“While folks feel a lot of sympathy for artists and musicians who are struggling to make sales, there’s none for the companies,” Beschizza said.
Executives from Hollywood’s six major studios all declined to comment Friday on the turn of events. But many in the creative community were seething about how they lost the public debate over bills that they say are desperately needed to crack down on foreign websites that distribute bootleg movies and TV shows, which they say costs the industry billions of dollars annually.
