Avi Lerner wants the U.S. government to be more proactive in its fight against piracy, but does not have much faith in President Barack Obama to act on it.
“We’ve got a major problem with [President] Obama, who is scared of Google,” Lerner told TheWrap.
Also read: Why America Is Looking to UK for Help Fighting Piracy
Hollywood continues to fret over the theft of their intellectual property, especially in countries like Spain, Italy, China and Russia. Yet recent legal efforts have failed, and politicians have shifted their focus to persuading the American public that piracy is bad.
Many applaud those efforts, including Lerner.
“Most of the people in the world, especially young children, don’t think they have to pay to see a movie,” Lerner said. “They don’t understand that by doing this, we are losing millions and billions of dollars.”
Also read: How Companies Like BroadbandTV Have Helped Hollywood Turn Piracy Into Millions
Lisa Wilson, co-founder of the The Solution Entertainment Group, agrees.
“One of the biggest problems we face is the younger generation doesn’t necessarily see it as stealing,” Wilson told TheWrap.
She described the government’s efforts as “not terribly successful.” Lerner took it a step further. He wants the government to go after companies like Google, whose search engine surface results to website hosting pirated content.
Also read: Like Facebook and Twitter, Google Tries to Prove TV Needs Its Help
Politicians would rather work with Google, but Lerner doesn’t see it that, and he has directed his complaints straight at Obama.
“He said Google is bigger than all of the studios put together, and he can get more money from them,” Lerner said.
Wilson, when asked to elaborate on her thoughts, demurred that her board members would have more to say: “Have you talked to Avi Lerner?”