Why did Disney Change its Mind about Network Neutrality?

Back in November 2002, the Walt Disney Company was a member of the “Coalition of Broadband Users and Innovators.”  Here's the letter the Coalition sent asking that the FCC ensure that “transmission network operators do not encumber relationships between their customers and destinations on the network.”

A couple of weeks ago (March 2006), the Walt Disney Company said something quite different:

Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger weighed in on the network neutrality debate Monday with an opinion guaranteed to please his hosts here at the TelecomNext show — in that he doesn't think any new legislation is needed.

“We appreciate the pledges made” by the telecom and cable companies not to block or degrade services, applications or content, Iger said at the end of his keynote presentation. “We do not support any [Network Neutrality] legislation at this time.”

Now, the 2002 letter didn't evince much trust in the telcos.  Why the change of heart?

As of March 2006, Disney has deals with Verizon (according to the article linked to above).  What's in these deals? 

The MPAA (of which Disney is a member) has always wanted to get rid of P2P.  In 2002, the MPAA filed a short paper with the Senate Judiciary Committee reporting progress on three goals:  implementing the broadcast flag, plugging the analog hole, and “[p]utting an end to the avalanche of movie theft on so-called ‘file-sharing” services, such as Morpheus, Gnutella, and other peer-to-peer (p2p) networks.”

Someone needs to look into the contractual relationships between network providers and movie studios carefully.  Is it possible that the network providers have agreed to help Hollywood eradicate P2P, and that in exchange Hollywood has decided to actively oppose the network neutrality policies it argued for in 2002?

April 8, 2006 | Filed Under main page 

Comments

2 Responses to “Why did Disney Change its Mind about Network Neutrality?”

  1. Anonymous on April 10th, 2006 1:34 pm

    Disney probably doesn't understand that net neutrality protects content providers as well as content consumers. Either that, or they have no plans to distribute content on the Internet in the future.

  2. Anonymous on April 10th, 2006 4:46 pm

    I was curious about what evidence was given before this but it's been postponed indefinitely. Anybody know when it might be held?
    Friday 04/07/2006 - 10:00 AM
    2141 Rayburn House Office Building
    Judiciary Committee Task Force on Telecom and Antitrust (109th)
    ~ Postponed Until Further Notice ~ Oversight Hearing on “Network Neutrality: Competition, Innovation and Nondiscriminatory Access.”

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