Today, there are many different ways to access digital entertainment like music, movies, TV shows, games and books. With so many options, it can be unclear what’s legal and what’s not.
Online copyright infringement (also called online piracy) has become a serious and growing problem. The Center for Copyright Information (CCI) was formed to educate consumers about the importance of copyright protection and to offer information about online copyright infringement. Our goal is to alleviate confusion and help Internet users find legal ways to enjoy the digital content they love.
Our members include artists and content creators like the members of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) as well as independent filmmakers and record producers represented by the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA) and the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), and 5 major Internet service providers – AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon. Our leadership also includes an Advisory Board made up of consumer advocates, privacy specialists and technology policy experts.
CCI Leadership
Jim Kohlenberger, Executive Director
Jim Kohlenberger currently serves as the Executive Director of CCI. Mr. Kohlenberger is a recognized leader in Washington’s innovation policy circles with over two decades of innovation policy experience in the White House (serving two Presidents,) on Capitol Hill, and running his own innovation focused consulting practice. He has broad experience, deep policy expertise, and understands the policy issues on the cutting edge of new technologies.
After two years, Mr. Kohlenberger left the White House in 2010 after serving as Chief of Staff for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). While in the White House he helped the Administration make historic strides that resulted in a fundamental new commitment for harnessing science, technology, innovation, and broadband for boosting long term economic growth and helping Americans live longer healthier lives. These key steps included making historic investments in R&D, appointing the first ever Chief Technology Officer, reversing the ban on embryonic stem cell research, outlining a bold new innovation agenda for America’ future, and making scientific integrity and open government signature Obama Administration issues.
Mr. Kohlenberger also served 8 years in the Clinton White House as Senior Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Al Gore where he successfully harnessed innovation as an engine for economic growth and opportunity. On innovation policy, he worked to help pass the Telecommunications Act of 1996, helped shape the administration’s hands-off approach to the Internet and e-commerce, advance a reinvigorated national space strategy, and helped spearhead administration efforts to bridge the digital divide and connect every classroom to the Internet.
Between the Clinton and Obama White House, he ran his own consulting practice where he worked with Governors, CEOs, Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, non-profits, and associations.
Jill Lesser, Senior Advisor
Jill Lesser currently serves as a Senior Advisor CCI. Ms. Lesser’s background includes serving as the Deputy Director of Public Policy and Director of the Civic Media Project at People for the American Way (PFAW), a Washington, D.C.-based civil liberties organization where she directed the organization’s public policy initiatives relating to new technologies and the First Amendment. After PFAW, she became a Senior Vice President, Domestic Public Policy, for AOL, Inc. (then AOL- Time Warner) serving as a lead advisor on technology, intellectual property and telecommunications issues as well as other issues affecting the media industry. Prior to AOL’s merger with Time Warner, Ms. Lesser led industry-wide efforts on cutting-edge Internet issues such as privacy and free speech. She also served as AOL’s representative on the U.S. Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee and testified before several Congressional Committees and the Federal Trade Commission on privacy. Most recently, Ms. Lesser advised non-profit and corporate clients on media and communications policy issues, with a particular focus on consumer protection, intellectual property and free expression and is a Board Member of the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Advisory Board
The CCI Advisory Board consults actively on issues the Executive Committee is considering. These include the design and implementation of the CAS and the nature of educational program CCI will construct to help subscribers enjoy copyrighted content online in a legal, safe and secure manner while respecting their important free speech and privacy rights. Members of the Advisory Board include:
Jerry Berman, Chairman, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee
Jerry Berman is the founder of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). CDT is a Washington, DC based Internet public policy organization established in December of 1994. CDT plays a leading role in free speech, privacy, Internet Governance and architecture issues affecting democracy and civil liberties on the global Internet.
Mr. Berman is also the President and Chairman of the Internet Education Foundation (IEF), a Washington, DC based non-profit established by leading Internet companies and public interest groups to conduct programs designed to educate policy makers and the public about the commercial and democratic potential of today’s decentralized and global Internet. IEF organizes forums for the Congressional Internet Caucus, sponsors conferences on issues such as child safety and privacy online and develops and operates consumer education sites such as GetNetWise.
Mr. Berman heads the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus, a bipartisan group of over 160 members of Congress which sponsor Internet policy forums and a speakers program to increase congressional understanding of the Internet.
Jules Polonetsky, Director and Co-chair, Future of Privacy Forum
Jules Polonetsky serves as Director and Co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that seeks to advance responsible data practices. FPF’s current projects to advance transparency and control in a business-practical manner focus on online data use, smart grid, mobile data, apps and social media.
As AOL’s former Chief Privacy Officer and SVP for Consumer Advocacy, Mr. Polonetsky was responsible for ensuring that AOL’s users could trust the company with their information and for educating employees about best practices for advertising, content, and product development. Mr. Polonetsky previously served for four years as Vice President, Integrity Assurance, at America Online Inc. The Integrity Assurance team was responsible for a wide range of consumer protection and risk management issues for AOL’s brands (America Online, AIM, Netscape, Compuserve, Mapquest, MoviePhone, Spinner, WinAmp, ICQ, Advertising.com) including privacy, advertising policy, content and community standards, product standards, parental controls, safety and accessibility for users with disabilities.
Leslie Harris, former President and CEO, Center for Democracy and Technology
Leslie Harris is the former president and chief executive officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) in Washington, D.C. Ms. Harris joined CDT in 2005 as executive director. During her time at CDT, Ms. Harris managed the organization and served its chief spokesperson, and has occasionally testified before Congress.
Prior to CDT, Ms. Harris founded and ran a private consulting firm, Leslis Harris & Associate, where she worked with mostly non-profit clients. Before that she was the Director of Public Policy at People For the American Way after spending many years at the American Civil Liberties Union. Ms. Harris holds a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina.
Stephen Balkam, Founder & CEO, FOSI
For the past 30 years, Stephen Balkam has had a wide range of leadership roles in the nonprofit sector in the both the US and UK. He is currently the Founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), an international, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, DC. FOSI’s mission is to make the online world safer for kids and their families.
Prior to FOSI, Stephen was the Founder and CEO of the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) and lead a team which developed the world’s leading content labeling system on the web. While with ICRA, Stephen served on the US Child Online Protection Commission (COPA) in 2000 and was named one of the Top 50 UK Movers and Shakers, Internet Magazine, 2001.
In 1994, Stephen was named the first Executive Director of the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) which created a unique self-labeling system for computer games and then, in 1996, Stephen launched RSACi – a forerunner to the ICRA website labeling system. For his efforts in online safety, Stephen was given the 1998 Carl Bertelsmann Prize in Gutersloh, Germany, for innovation and responsibility in the Information Society and was invited to the first and subsequent White House Internet Summits during the Clinton Administration.
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