Editor

In a letter sent to today to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), which represents 180 independent film and television producers and distributors, expressed its support for H.R. 5353, the “Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008.”

The letter sent to Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Fred Upton (R-MI) supports “the bill’s goal of ensuring nondiscrimination so that diverse content and innovative services are not blocked or discouraged under the ambiguous rubric of ‘network management.’” According to the letter sent by Jean Prewitt, IFTA’s President and CEO, “This bill also wisely recognizes that a wide choice of content and a robust infrastructure are mutually reinforcing and cannot be separated.”

Pointing to the fact that IFTA’s members have produced and continue to produce quality, Academy Award ® winning films like ‘The Departed,’ ‘Crash,’ ‘Lord of the Rings,’ and “Million Dollar Baby,’ Prewitt wrote that, “A policy to keep the Internet open and competitively accessible to all users must be implemented. Neither we, nor the consumers, can afford to have large gatekeepers lock up the Internet as they have locked up network and cable television.”

Prewitt also stated, “Copyright issues are vital to IFTA members and the film and television industry at large. However, copyright concerns should not be an excuse to deny open access, which is absolutely critical to ensuring a vibrant film and television industry and a diversity of programming. An open Internet does not prevent technology solutions to block infringing and illegal activity; indeed, it is important that copyright protection solutions emerge and are implemented in the marketplace rapidly. All interested parties, though, not just a select few, must be a part of the transparent process to create and deploy these solutions.

To view Ms. Prewitt’s letter, please visit http://www.ifta-online.org/Uploads/Issues/42.pdf.