WASHINGTON, D.C. --  The wild, wild West of Internet anarchy that was the first decade of the new century has a new sheriff.  And she paid a visit to the 10th annual Future of Music Policy Summit with a  badge bearing a 33-point strategy for restoring law and order.

The summit concluded Tuesday after three days of presentations and spirited dialogue among tech heads, policy makers, artists and recored-label executives plotting a new future for the music industry. But it was a visit by President Barack Obama’s new copyright czar, Victoria Espinel, that was the talk of the conference.

Espinel was appointed by Obama earlier this year as the nation’s first-ever U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator.  A few months ago she introduced a strategy for dealing with Internet file-sharing  (or “smash and grab” as it was described by Vice President Joe Biden), which has been linked to a 50 percent decline in music-industry revenue over the last decade.

The music industry’s implosion has become a cause that even the federal government can't ignore because the same issue – unfettered exchange of Internet files – has bled into the movie and publishing industries. Now any intellectual property that can be digitized can also be shared/stolen/cannabalized within seconds of hitting the Internet, and multibillion-dollar businesses -- most of them with roots firmly planted in the pre-digital 20th Century -- are crying foul.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An indication of just how urgent (or how out-of-hand, depending on your perspective) the concern has become over file-sharing was President Barack Obama's recent appointment of the first so-called copyright czar in the nation's history.

The new czar -- Victoria Espinel, the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement coordinator -- visited the Future of Music Policy Summit on Tuesday and offered a brief summation of what's on her agenda. She represents an administration that is showing troubling signs of skewing toward established corporate interests and 20th Century business models and legal practices at a time when technology has fundamentally changed the way fans consume music and interact with artists.

Earlier this year, the Department of Justice approved a controversial merger between North America's largest concert promoter, Live Nation, and ticketing agency, Ticketmaster, creating a powerhouse with the potential to control every aspect of the music business.

A few months ago, Espinel's office released a 33-point agenda after what she said was a thorough inventory of opinion on both sides of the file-sharing debate. In presenting the Joint Strategic Plan to Combat Intellectual Property Theft, Espinel was joined by Vice President Joe Biden, who gave reporters a great sound bite even as he demonstrated an incredibly unnuanced understanding of how file-sharing works:

"We used to have a problem in this town saying this," Biden said. "But piracy is theft. Clean and simple. It's smash and grab. It ain't no different than smashing a window at Tiffany's and grabbing (merchandise)."

The intellectual-property plan itself was a bit more balanced, and Espinel provided an overview at Future of Music. She said it's her job is "to protect the creativity of our citizens" because "the protection of innovation ... and creativity is essential for economic recovery."

She zeroed in on music as a particular problem area because "95 percent of (music) downloads are illegal," a figure that is commonly linked to a 50 percent decline in music-industry revenue over the last decade.

While embracing the notion of a "free and open Internet," she echoed policymakers in recent years by saying that such freedom can flourish only once "Illegal and infringing activity" has been cut back. She said her office received more than 1,600 public comments in coming up with its 33-point strategy, and suggested that the majority came from those interested in protecting their copyright -- artists, publishers, record companies and other license holders. But fair-use advocates were also heard, helping to create a distinction between infringers and artists who "build upon the work of others."

That's an enlightened view. But her presentation at FMC was focused on violators. She said the government is starting to pressure the private sector, particularly Internet service providers, "to do more to reduce the flow of illegal content," echoing efforts in some European countries to reduce or even cut off Internet access to customers found to be engaging in illegal file sharing. She also said foreign Web sites pushing illegal content and "dangerous" products were being addressed, though it was unclear how, and that American law was under a comprehensive review "to keep pace with technology on the Internet."

It all came off as sufficiently vague enough not to raise any alarms. But the policy in general sounded as if it was framed in such a way not to ruffle the feathers of established license holders, without acknowledging that if the vast majority of downloads are being considered "illegal," a lot of everyday Americans are engaging in "criminal" activity. In a brief question-and-answer session after her speech, I asked Espinel to address this fundamental disconnect between the government's agenda and the way many citizens interact with their computers and cellphones in their daily lives. They're sharing files, after all, which is what these devices were built to do.

"I don't see an inherent conflict," she said. "The majority of consumers don't want to engage in illegal content."

But, wait, didn't you just say that 95 percent of downloaders are doing exactly that? I didn't get a chance to ask that follow-up question, but Espinel did say that the administration would primarily focus its crackdown on "Web sites distributing illegal content for profit" or those that "mimic legal sites by charging a subscription fee or attracting advertisers." All well and good, but that's a small percentage of the "problem" as defined by the music industry. The real issue is with those tens of millions of everyday citizens doing something that the goverment says could cost them their Internet access, or worse.

greg@gregkot.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- T Bone Burnett fully understands what the Internet can do in terms of putting artists in touch with their fans. But he's not buying into a distribution tool that "degrades" music.

In a keynote Monday at the 10th annual Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit, Burnett came off as an affable curmudgeon who sees current music-industry troubles as just a phase rather than a long-term decline (in the interests of full disclosure, the keynote was billed as Burnett "in conversation" with me, but I was there primarily to ask questions while Burnett did the majority of the opinion-spouting).

The producer called the sound of MP3 files an insult to music, and said they serve no purpose other than advertising and should be given away. "A transistor radio sounds better than an iPod," he says. Artists who join social media sites such as Facebook merely become one of millions battling for crumbs of attention on the same digital platforms. They should be avoided, he advises.

Burnett, at 62, may sound like another faithful member of the old-world industry clinging by his fingernails to what used to be, but he's hardly played by that industry's rules. Rather, he is an iconoclastic figure who has managed to sneak some decidedly nonmainstream material into the Hollywood and major-label pipeline and score unexpected hits. He curated the "O Brother Where Art Thou" project, and brought a wide range of pre-rock 'n' roll roots music to an international audience when the movie soundtrack took off. When all the world was clamoring for a Led Zeppelin reunion tour, Robert Plant enlisted Burnett to work with him and singer Allison Krauss on the "Raising Sand" album, a moody, enigmatic and sometimes strange excursion into American roots music that was an unexpected best-seller.

He's also lived through a few format changes, growing up at a time when the 45-rpm single was the coin of the realm, then the vinyl album, 8-tracks, cassettes, compact discs and now those lousy-sounding Mp3's. When Burnett said the future of the music industry is analog, he was smiling, but I don't think he was joking.

His loathing for Mp3s is perhaps surpassed only by his disregard for the record industry, which he says got what it deserves by ripping off consumers. The Internet isn't much better: "The record industry doesn't care about music, but Google doesn't either."

Underlying his comments was the notion that artists are being distracted from what really matters. Rather than focusing on new marketing approaches, artists need to focus on greatness. Do that, he says, and the music industry "will get through this disruption." Which wasn't exactly music to the ears of young music-makers striving to be great while still trying to pay the rent.

greg@gregkot.com