Washington, D.C. – The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) has urged the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to make the protection of creative content online a core and guiding principal of the National Broadband Plan. In a filing late Friday with the FCC, the MPAA wrote:

“If the National Broadband Plan is to serve as a successful road map for ubiquitous broadband for all Americans, the government must recognize the vital role that high quality, high value content plays in driving adoption of new technologies. Compelling content is an essential ingredient in the consumer Internet experience and a key driver of broadband adoption. Inadequate respect for creative rights online will impede the rollout of creative new content offerings, undermining the Commission’s, Congress’ and the Administration’s goal of ubiquitous national broadband. For this reason, MPAA urges the Commission to make respect for creative content online a core and guiding principle of the National Broadband Plan.”

“Indeed, if it is to become national policy that the Internet serve as the center of modern society – a digital intersection of Main Street, a town square and a mega-shopping and entertainment complex all-rolled-into-one – it must be a place governed by laws, standards and rules, just like the real streets and communities inhabited all across America. Anarchy and disrespect for the rule of law online are no less pernicious to society than the flouting of our laws would be anywhere else. The government cannot let the anonymity of the Internet become a cloak behind which people think that unlawful conduct can continue unabated.”