MPAA to have Silicon Valley presence

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced Thursday it was hiring a senior vice president for internet technology who will be based in Silicon Valley.

Alex Deacon, Neustar Media’s former chief technology officer, will take the position.

{mosads}He was one of two new technology representatives the MPAA announced it was hiring on Thursday.

John McCoskey, former chief technology officer for PBS, will be the association’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, the group announced.

The hires come as the group is attempting to increase the availability of copyrighted content online, MPAA CEO and former Sen. Chris Dodd said in a statement.

On Wednesday, it presented a study accusing search engines like Google of not doing enough to prevent online piracy.

“John and Alex will be important voices at MPAA as our industry continues to work closely with the technology community to better serve our shared audience,” he said.

Dodd said the MPAA’s “studios are relentlessly innovating to develop new options to increase consumer choice.”

The content industry is often slammed for decrying online piracy without trying to find innovative ways to distribute content online.