Viacom, NBC Universal and the Songwriters Guild of America have teamed with Cisco, AT&T and Microsoft to form a new tech-meets-showbiz advocacy group called Arts+Labs.
The group has a multifaceted mission: pushing for enhanced Web content on safe, reliable networks, seeking fair compensation and protection for content creators, and steering consumers toward good content and away from Web menaces like spyware and spam.
The group was unveiled at a morning news conference Wednesday in Gotham. Similar media events are planned in L.A. and Nashville, Tenn.
In a statement, Arts+Labs described itself as “a collaboration between creators and innovators who regard the Internet as a vibrant town center where all consumers can safely choose from a vast array of digital products, entertainment and services.”
The group is co-chaired by Mike McCurry, former White House press secretary to President Bill Clinton, and Mark McKinnon, a former songwriter and newspaper editor who is better known as a former campaign advisor to John McCain and President Bush.
Rick Carnes, prexy of the songwriter’s guild, and Chuck Sims, of the law firm Proskauer Rose, also have agreed to join Arts+Labs as the first members of the group’s advisory board.
