Gamertell

The Entertainment Software Association named Michael Gallagher its new president, replacing the organization’s first president and founder, Douglas Lowenstein, who has served since 1994.

Gallagher is coming to ESA from the law firm Perkins Coie, and was previously the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information in the US Department of Commerce for President Bush. He’s also a member of the Advisory Committee to the Secretary General of the United Nations for the Internet Governance Forum and the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Information and Communication Policy (phew). Lowenstein is apparently going to work outside the gaming industry.

ESA may best be known for presenting E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) each year, but also helps to fight copyright infringement, government regulations and censorship.

According to Game Biz Daily:

Gallagher said he was “intrigued” when he was offered the position, not only because he’s always enjoyed video games, but also because there are huge opportunities for the industry as broadband technologies become more and more widespread.

He goes on to comment on the changes E3 has undergone, resulting in a lot of negative industry speculations:

“It’s hard for people to know what to expect given how institutional the old E3 was in terms of our way of thinking and the things we were doing,” said Bach. “So some of the [negativity] is coming from uncertainty about how the event’s going to go; it’s very new and it’s a different concept in this industry, although it’s a fairly well tested concept in most other industries. This is actually not much different from the Film Festival or any other smaller, more intimate trade events run by other entertainment industries. Certainly some of it is us learning as we go what’s going to work and what’s not going to work. And if you ask me the question, ‘Do I think the first new E3 will be flawless?’ the answer to that is ‘No.’ We would say that right up front. But if you ask me, ‘Do you think it can be a great event and something we can build on for the future?” I think the answer to that is ‘Yes.’”

Read [CBC] Also Read [Game Biz Daily] Site [ESA]