The Distributed Computing Industry Association (www.DCIA.info), a trade organization with more than one-hundred Member companies representing peer-to-peer (P2P) and social networking software providers, content rights holders, and service-and-support companies, today announced that A. Robert Pisano, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Motion Picture Association of America (www.MPAA.org), will be the Conference Luncheon Speaker at its upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA (http://www.dcia.info/activities/p2pmsla2008/).
This third-annual DCIA flagship event is scheduled for Monday May 5th in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, and is being held in conjunction with Digital Hollywood
Spring.
"It is imperative that the P2P industry proactively improve and expand relationships with the entertainment sector. The MPAA plays an essential role in combating copyright infringement
and securing meaningful protection of its members' content, and we are honored to have its President and COO Bob Pisano address our conference," said DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty in making the
announcement.
"While rapidly evolving distributed computing technologies offer unprecedented new opportunities for MPAA members and other content rights holders, they also pose new challenges. We want
to increase our support of content providers in addressing those challenges," he added.
As President and COO of the MPAA, Pisano has day-to-day operating responsibility for all association operations, domestic and international, other than Washington, DC based external and
governmental affairs.
Before joining the MPAA in October 2005, he served as National Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Screen Actors Guild.
Previously, Pisano served as Executive Vice President and later Vice Chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) where he oversaw all of the company's business activities, including film,
television, home entertainment, and consumer products operations.
Prior to MGM, Pisano was Executive Vice President of Paramount Pictures Corporation, serving as General Counsel and a member of the Office of the Chairman. He was also a partner with
O'Melveny and Myers in Los Angeles, specializing in entertainment and business litigation matters for 12 years, including three years as the partner in charge of the firm's office in
Paris.
Pisano is a member of the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund and of the Executive Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The MPAA, and its international counterpart, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), are the voice and advocates of the American motion picture, home video, and television industries.
Founded in 1922 as the trade association for the film industry, the organization has broadened its mandate over the years to reflect the diversity of an expanding industry.
Today, these associations represent not only the world of theatrical film, but also serve as leaders and advocates for major producers and distributors of entertainment programming for
television, cable, home video, and future delivery systems not yet imagined.
Other P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA keynote speakers include AT&T's Charles Kalmanek, BitGravity's Perry Wu, BitTorrent's Eric Klinker, Comcast's Rich Woundy, HIRO Media's Ronnie Golan,
KlikVU's Lowell Feuer, LimeWire's George Searle, Manatt's Jeff Biederman, Motorola's John Waclawski, Move Networks' David Rice, Pando Networks' Robert Levitan, QTRAX's Allan Klepfisz, TVU
Networks' Bob Creager, Unlimited Media's Memo Rhein, VeriSign's Eric Armstrong, and Vuze's Gilles BianRosa.
Microsoft's See-Mong Tan will present a special closing keynote session.
Featured panelists are Abacast's Michael King, ATRTISTdirect's Jonathan Lee, Audible Magic's Vance Ikezoye, Beat9.com's Jay Rifkin, Brand Asset Digital's Joey Patuleia, DigitalContainers'
Tom Patterson, Digital Watermarking Alliance's (DWA) Reed Stager, GridNetworks' Jeffrey Payne, Jambo Media's Rob Manoff, Javien Digital Payment Solutions' Leslie Poole, Manatt's Bill
Heberer, MediaDefender's Chris Gillis, MediaPass Network's Daniel Harris, the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) Fritz Attaway, Oversi's Jeff Anker, Pando Networks' Laird
Popkin, Paramount Pictures' Derek Broes, PeerApp's Eliot Listman, Rebel Digital's Lance Ford & Robin Kent, Rightscom's Mark Isherwood, RightsFlow Entertainment Group's Patrick
Sullivan, TAG Strategic's Ted Cohen, Ultramercial's Dana Jones, Verizon Communications' Doug Pasko, Wingman Media's David Shor, Yale University Laboratory of Networked Systems' (LANS)
Haiyong Xie, and YuMe Networks' Rosanne Vathana. More speakers will be announced.
There will also be a VIP networking cocktail reception with live entertainment.
The P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA will address such topics as network resources - reducing bandwidth usage and improving P2P throughput; technology advancement - creating the commercial P2P
ecosystem; artists and rights holders - harnessing P2P for content creators; acquisition and accountability - affiliating with rights holders; and revenue generation - executing
ad-supported and consumer-paid models.
The P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA is being held in conjunction with Digital Hollywood Spring (DHS), and registration for both events yields a substantial savings for attendees. For more
information, please visit dcia.info/activities/p2pmsla2008.
Pre-registration rates, which save attendees up to $400 end April 28th. To register, please visit dcia.info/activities/p2pmsla2008/register.html.
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA sponsors include the Association for Media & Entertainment Counsel (AMEC) (http://www.theamec.com/), FTI Consulting (http://www.fticonsulting.com/web/), Javien Digital Payment Solutions (http://www.javien.com/), Manatt
(http://www.manatt.com/), Nettwerk Music Group (http://www.nettwerk.com/), QTRAX (http://www.qtrax.com/), and Unlimited Media (http://www.unlimitedmedia.net/). For sponsor packages and speaker
information, please contact Karen Kaplowitz, DCIA Member Services, at 888-890-4240 or karen @ dcia.info.
About the DCIA
The Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) is a non-profit trade organization focused on commercial development of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and related distributed
computing technologies.
DCIA Membership is organized into three Groups: Content, Operations, and Platform. The DCIA conducts working groups and special projects, such as the P4P Working Group (P4PWG), P2P
Digital Watermark Working Group (PDWG), Consumer Disclosures Working Group (CDWG), P2P PATROL, and the P2P Revenue Engine (P2PRE). It also publishes the weekly online newsletter DCINFO.
Media Contact
Kelly Larabee
410-476-7965
kelly @ dcia.info