New Media

NBCU, Viacom, AT&T, Cisco, Microsoft and the Songwriters Guild of America are among the founding members of a new coalition dubbed Arts+Labs. They say the idea is to encourage the development of innovative Internet content over safe and reliable networks. The group is co-chaired by former White House press sec Mike McCurry. The group says a key mission is to inform consumers about the availability of legal, safe, affordable content available on the Net. Public Knowledge blasted the group, saying its goal would be to police what should be private Internet traffic. "We certainly do not condone online theft of copyrighted materials. At the same time, we similarly do not favor the unwarranted intrusion into the Internet that this group promises for the future," PK pres Gigi Sohn said.