Telcos enter the copyright fray: “Verizon and other telecommunications giants have ordered their phalanx of lobbyists to oppose the entertainment industry’s demands for new copyright laws,” Declan McCullough writes in this interview with Verizon VP/general counsel Sarah Deutsch. Why is this such big
Telcos enter the copyright fray: “Verizon and other telecommunications giants have ordered their phalanx of lobbyists to oppose the entertainment industry’s demands for new copyright laws,” Declan McCullough writes in this interview with Verizon VP/general counsel Sarah Deutsch. Why is this such big news? Well, consider the size of the industries involved in the debate:
Computer industry: $62.1 billion
Software publishing: $88.2 billion
Consumer electronics: $8.6 billion
vs.
Motion picture and sound recording industries: $68.2 billion
Radio and TV broadcasters: $53 billion
Cable networks: $68.1 billion
and now joining the battle:
Telecommunications companies: $354.2 billion
Considering that money buys influence in Washington D.C., I’d say that’s pretty significant indeed.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau statistics for the year 2000)
