Jon Potter Resigns From Digital Media Association November 19, 2009
- Digital and Mobile
By Antony Bruno, Denver
Digital Media Association executive director and founder Jon Potter has resigned.
Potter's resignation is effective on the last day of the year, which is when his current contract expires. However, he is no longer reporting to the organization's office and is effectively doing no day-to-day work.
General counsel Lee Knife will take over as interim executive director in the new year while the search for a replacement is completed. The organization has retained consulting firm Nonprofit Finance Fund to lead the search. No timeline has yet been set for that process.
It's not precisely clear why Potter left the organization. Officially, the word is that Potter wanted to move on to other things. But according to sources, his departure was rather sudden and for some, unexpected. Potter did not immediately return calls for comment.
Potter founded DiMA in 1998 and was officially named executive director in 2001. Over the years, he emerged as one of the leading opponents to many of the music industry's efforts to turn legislative and regulatory action in their favor.
Most recently, Potter was involved in the complicated negotiations with SoundExchange over royalties due to publishers from Internet radio companies, stemming from a Copyright Royalty Board rate setting ruling that many Webcasters claimed would put them out of business. While several Internet radio services ultimately settled with SoundExchange, DiMA never officially signed on to the compromise agreement.
The organization also opposed ASCAP's recent efforts to gain a public performance royalty for ringtones.
DiMA's board is made up of Apple, Best Buy/Napster, Live365, Pandora and RealNetworks. Members include a variety of digital media service and device providers, including Amazon.com, imeem, Microsoft, MTV Networks, Nokia, Slacker and YouTube.
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