ESA Appoints New, Piracy-Focused General Counsel

The Entertainment Software Association has announced the appointment of new general counsel Kenneth Doroshow, an ex-Recording Industry Association of America executive who spearheaded anti-piracy efforts as head of its litigation department. Doroshow also previously served as senior counsel to the United States Department of Justice. However, the most interesting facet of his career is his history at the RIAA, during which he managed lawsuits against file trading service LimeWire, aggregator Usenet.com, and Russian MP3 site AllofMP3.com. In fact, the press release introducing the lawyer (available on the ESA's official website) almost exclusively speaks of Doroshow's involvement in antipiracy measures. This is Doroshow's primary area of expertise -- his appointment at the Department of Justice was with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. "Ken brings a wealth of intellectual property knowledge and experience to the Entertainment Software Association," said Patrick Ross, executive director of the Copyright Alliance, an organization that promotes copyright and whose members include the ESA, RIAA, and major media corporations such as Viacom and NBC Universal. All of this implies that the ESA's intent, moving forward, is to significantly strengthen its antipiracy efforts. Doroshow replaces former general counsel Gail Merkels, who parted ways with the organization in March when its New York office was shut down.