Jack Valenti's Lies
from the let's-try-that-again dept
For a while now, I've been wondering why no one ever seems to confront Jack Valenti about his claim many years ago that the VCR would be the "Boston Strangler of the movie industry", when just the opposite came true. Finally, someone has done the right thing - and then let Valenti slip right through. This interview at Harvard (yes, found over at Slashdot) confronted Valenti about his strangler claim, and Valenti proceeds to lie his way out of it, by saying that everything he predicted about the VCR has come true. He conveniently ignores the fact that the movie industry is doing many many many times better than it was at the time - in large part due to the VCR. If that's what it's like to be a victim of the Boston Strangler, sign me up. He also denies that "fair use" actually exists (before giving an example of fair use). He also says that DVDs are indestructable (not true), and so no one would ever need to make a backup copy. It's funny because he almost trips himself up here. He points out that no one should ever need to make a backup of a digital copy because it will last forever (though, plenty of articles on data extinction prove this isn't true). What he seems to be missing is the reason digital can last forever is because you can make a perfect copy of it. However, by denying people the right to make the copy, he's guaranteeing that it won't last forever. Though, he has a perfect solution for this: if your DVD breaks, you just buy a new one.
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I find it absolute irony that Valenti points to the quote "The people grow tired of a confusion whose end is not in sight," during the interview.
Isn't this the campaign the MPAA has fought for the last few years...confuse the hell out of the consumer by removing fair use, calling their customers criminals, and lying through their teeth. The RIAA is failing, not because of piracy (which Valenti states is the case,) but because they are stuck on a sinking ship and have no intention to bail-out or fix the ship. Can't Valenti see that the same is true for his own organization, that people are getting tired of the lies and the confusion, and are beginning to show the same sort of discontent for him and his organization as they have for Heir Rosen and the RIAA?
I give the MPAA a couple years more life than the RIAA, since both are practicing the same warfare against their customers.
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MPAA will not die
I dont know who will run the MPAA after Valenti, maybe someone with a lot more tech-savvy than ol' Jack.
The Movie industry will not die. Why?
I have no reservation about paying $4 to rent a movie, $6 to see it first-run in a theater, or $20 to buy one on DVD. That is good entertainment for the dollar.
I will not pay $20 for a cd. DVDs are a better value and I dont want to see Hilary Rosen get any of my money.
I only have so much money and whoever treats me better and doesnt call me a massive criminal will get it. Jack knows he wont get pirated out of existence, its just he's senile and will say anything
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indestructable
I don't think any object in this world is indestructable. Especially not a $20 DVD.
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