NEW YORK - Unlike AT&T, Verizon told Hollywood that it will not join the film industry's fight against piracy by monitoring its network to block unauthorized copying, saying the move would violate customer privacy.
While AT&T is developing a system to identify and block illicitly copied material being sent over its broadband network, Verizon opposes the concept.
Thomas J. Tauke, Verizon's executive vice president for public affairs, told Saul Hansell of Bits.Blogs.NYTimes.com that Verizon is concerned about the privacy of its customers and policing its network would be costly.
"We generally are reluctant to get into the business of examining content that flows across our networks and taking some action as a result of that content," Tauke told Hansell.
Customer privacy was among the issues Tauke cited in stating Verizon's objections to monitoring its network.
"Anything we do has to balance the need of copyright protection with the desire of customers for privacy," he said.
Tauke also said monitoring could lead to a slippery slope.
"Once you start going down the path of looking at the information going down the network, there are many that want you to play the role of policeman," he said. "Stop illegal gambling offshore. Stop pornography. Stop a whole array of other kinds of activities that some may think inappropriate."
Tauke also said monitoring could make Verizon liable for failing to block copyrighted work.
"When you look back at the history of copyright legislation, there has been an effort by Hollywood to pin the liability for copyright violations on the network that transmits the material," he said. "It is no secret they think we have deeper pockets than others and we are easy-to-find targets."
Tauke said he did not agree with the film industry and AT&T's claim that illegal video sharing is a burden.
