Jack Valenti: The Exit Interview 596
thecounterfeit writes "Engadget has an interview with Jack Valenti, the outgoing president of the MPAA and the object of hatred for many hacker after he took he on DVD Jon, who is retiring tomorrow after more than three decades on the job. Engadget could have been a little harder on him when he says stuff like, "When you go to your department store and you buy 10 Cognac glasses and two weeks later you break two of them, the store doesn't give you two backup copies," but it is at least slightly encouraging to hear that he owns a TiVo."
It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:4, Insightful)
If there was a way to duplicate a cognac glass for 10 cents each, it'd be a different story.
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:2, Insightful)
So the analogy was wrong in the beginning.
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:4, Insightful)
I believe I'm allowed to finish my cognac from my other (non-cognac) glasses in case I happen to break the original 500 crystal glass.
MPAA sells you a physical copy and the digital material on it. When you break one, you've bought physical copy that now has to be replaced. It's no longer the digital material you thought you bought. When you copy the digital material, it's all of sudden the digital material that you've bought and now you're stealing it. Heads - MPAA wins, tails - you lose.
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:3, Insightful)
If we, the people, are supposed to grant them these special rights, we demand something in return. Something which we like to call "fair use" and "backup copies". This is not a free market debate, it's a legislative deb
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps you might show the copyright-related law that forbids you from cloning yourself a new kidney ? Surely you realize that your body is, at this very moment, replacing dead cells in your kidneys (and everywhere else, too) with new, live ones (at least I'm assuming so, since you were healthy enough to write to Slashdot) ? So, if you have no right to clone
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:5, Insightful)
When you go to your department store and you buy 10 Cognac glasses and two weeks later you break two of them, the store doesn't give you two backup copies. Where did this backup copy thing come from? A digital thing lasts forever (emphasis mine)
Exactly our point. What we bought is not the plastic disc, it's the digital thing. If the plastic disc breaks, we shouldn't need to buy a new digital thing, just a plastic disc. Just like if the cognac glass breaks, we don't need to buy new cognac, just a new glass.
Let me ask everyone here... (Score:5, Interesting)
I ask this because I do not back up my media. Nor does my family. Nor does anyone in my wife's family. Nor does anyone I work with or even know. NO one I've met in "the real world" has backed up a DVD or CD. Ever! Sure, back when albums and tapes were the big thing I would make a tape of an album...but to listen to in my car really. But then again, they weren't really back-ups as the sound on analog tape was horrible compared to an album.
So I ask you, are there really people out there backing up all their media like this? By the way, I have kids, my wife's family also has many kids. So far, we haven't had anyone get a scratched DVD...not saying that we won't, but I guess we show the kids how to handle DVD's...not that it takes a genius to grasp the concept.
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:5, Interesting)
I do. When I used to buy CDs I would make a copy of it and keep the original at home. The copy went into a binder in my car. If my car was broken into then all I lose is the copies... and heaven forbid my house should burn down then I can still make copies from the ones in my car and have perfect copies of the originals. I bought a license to listen to the songs, not the physical media. If you believe I bought the physical media then I STILL have the right to make a backup copy of it in case it gets broken. This is codified in law, not just my crazy commie brain.
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now regardless of the fact that she probably shouldn't have left the CDs in the car, if she had made duplicates and used those in the car, she'd still have all her genuine CDs. I always have CDRs of my music in my car, because at $20-40/CD (imports), I would be royally choked if they got ripped-off.
But of course, the RIAA doesn't like that whole "backup" idea, after all the thief would then have a copy of the music as well as the legal owner, and that's just not right!
So they need to decide - if you're actually "licensing" the music, then you get the right to get replacement media AT COST as part of the license. If you're buying the media, then they can kiss their product goodbye after you've bought it.
Now, all that said, I could give a damn WHAT the RIAA or MPAA think because when I buy a CD or DVD or computer software, it's mine dammit, and I'm going to do whatever the hell I want to with it - and nothing they say or do will ever change that.
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:4, Insightful)
Something simular happened to a friend of mine several years ago. His truck was parked in his driveway one night and some punk smashed in the window, stole his stereo, and all his CDs. Those CDs were all copies. He always burned his CDs for his car since he didn't trust what the Texas heat would do to the origionals.
The RIAA's (and Valenti's) idea of what is right is even more twisted than that. They have stated that making a copy of a CD for one's car is wrong. In their eyes, each and every stereo should have a seperate purchased copy.
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:4, Insightful)
Just one copy per stereo? RIAA is leaving money on the table by forgetting that most car audio systems have more than two speakers and can carry more than one passenger!
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:3, Interesting)
There views have always been convuluted. They tried originally to ban cassette tape recorders and (well before my time) the music industry (not sure if they were the RIAA then) tried to ban player pianos because they put artists out of work.
IOW: Is it "OWN it today" or "LICENSE it today" (Score:5, Insightful)
If you "own it", as the adds say, then you can do what you please. Backup, copy, mix, etc. (minus making $ from copies)
If you actually "license it", then saying "Own it today" is false advertising. AND you should still be able to get replacement media.
The RIAA/MPAA/CRIA all want the same thing: The advantages from both and no disadvantages from either. Also, they want this to work on hardware that you paid for. This is just plain Greed and hypocrisy
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:4, Interesting)
My point is that when you're deployed for 4-12 months, or even a couple years (I'm Air Force, thank goodness), you gotta have some movies to watch to kill time while on a 12 hour shift, but I'm not going to wreck original DVDs doing it.
I babied the CDs I brought with me to the desert. We weren't exactly roughing it, since we had tents with A/C. Even then the CDs came back a little scratched. The DVDs people brought got destroyed, mainly because they were being borrowed from each other.
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:3, Interesting)
I packed disposable razors, but had about 12 NiMH batteries and a charger for things like my portable MP3 CD-RW player
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:5, Informative)
I have backup copies of my CDs to carry on the car. That way, I do not put in danger originals buy scratching them on the car.
I have even downloaded albums that I had on CDs that were too scrached to be used.
So I think we, the customers, should be entitled to make backup copies of digital content, or at least, get back what we payed for (the content, not the media).
I fact, one of my colleagues has asked me for my original copy of a PS2 game that he bought for his kid (so damaged as not being usable)...
---
there was a SIG here.
it is gone now.
(Quiz: Where does my SIG comes from?)
No kids I presume? (Score:4, Interesting)
I do - and it saved my media in a car crash (Score:3, Interesting)
About a year and three quarters' ago, I was involved in an accident in which my car was written off. The CDs were scratched to hell, and a couple had actually snapped in half. No problem though - all handled nicely by the fact that not a single one was an original. Just reburned new copies and stuck them in our other car.
Well, no problem as far as CDs are concerned anyway. Miss the
Depends on the child I suppose... (Score:4, Interesting)
We were sticking with the SNES (cartridges are harder to damage), but even at 5 years old he could tell the difference between Super Mario World and Sunshine. (He beat Sunshine last week!)
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:3, Interesting)
I have seen friends of mine bring in entire stacks of recordable CDs containing ripped movies they downloaded from the net. By "stack" I don't mean 3 or 4 but more like 100. They chat about it and trade them openly - there is no guilt there, while they know it's illegal they just don't care. It's easy to be amoral when eve
Re:Let me ask everyone here... (Score:5, Insightful)
no, healthcare is a huge problem, starvation is a huge problem, genocide is a huge problem, education is a huge problem, violence against women is a huge problem, violence in the middle east is a huge problem
piracy is, for the most part, the concern of a super rich few. There are better things to be concerned about than wether or not Jack Valenti will be able to afford another house because some college student downloaded a movie.
I don't pirate movies or songs either and I don't condone those actions, but Jack is just a rich guy trying to get richer by manipulating laws, plain and simple. If you drop the price to a reasonable level, the black market will disappear.
Re:It comes down to cost for the backup... (Score:5, Insightful)
Either they are selling the CDs, or they are selling licenses, they can't have it both ways.
Wha? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wha? (Score:5, Funny)
Jack Quote (Score:5, Insightful)
Since CDs can stop working with a small scratch, unlike Cognac glasses, and the studios prevent back ups then they are the ones to replace it. Give us the ability to back up our software, Jack, and we won't need to bother you about replacements.
Re:Jack Quote (Score:4, Insightful)
We have that ability, stop trying to put us in jail for using it.
LK
Jack Valenti: Certified Dumbass (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Jack Valenti: Certified Dumbass (Score:5, Insightful)
A digital thing lasts forever.
Jack Valenti's almost right, yet missing the point entirely. A digital thing will last forever if it can leave the shackles of whatever physical medium it's stored on. If you have two copies, and only one of them is likely to get destroyed at any given time (say, you've copied a CD to a friend with the explicit orders that ey can't listen to it because that would be illegal, just to have an off-site backup), then you'll always have a perfect copy.
But being able to copy and manage the data better is the only advantage digital media have over their analogue counterparts. If you take away the rights to copy them, there is no point in using digital media in the first place.
Re:Jack Quote (Score:2)
Re:Jack Quote (Score:5, Insightful)
Give us the ability to back up our software, Jack, and we won't need to bother you about replacements.
This is entirely the wrong attitude. They don't have to give us the ability to back things up, they need to stop taking the ability away from us!
Re:Jack Quote (Score:3, Funny)
"Hey, if you pull out of the driveway of your mansion in Bel-Air and ram one of your twelve Rolls Royce Silver Shadows into a tree because you you spilled caviar on your Zegna suit, you have to go down to the Rolls Royce dealer, pull out your American Express card, and buy a new one just like everyone else
CDs/Movies are not cognac glasses... (Score:5, Insightful)
Difference between DVDs and cognac glasses (Score:5, Insightful)
When I buy a set of cognac glasses, they'll work with any brand of cognac, even cognac my friends and I made as part of a giant collaborative project.
If I buy cognac glasses and decide to drink milk out of them, the manufacturer won't accuse me of violating the licensing agreement.
If I build exact replicas of the cognac glasses using my own materials, and then give these replicas away, I won't get sued by the Glassblowing Industry Association of America.
If I sell the cognac glasses at a second-hand store, the aforementioned GIAA won't accuse me of stealing profits away from the original cognac-glass-makers, or claim that I probably made an illegal copy of them before I sold them.
I don't have to pay higher prices on glassblowing supplies on the assumption that I'll probably use them to make illegal copies of cognac glasses.
And the #1 difference between DVDs and cognac glasses:
The cognac glass actually contains something I might enjoy.
Re:Difference between DVDs and cognac glasses (Score:4, Insightful)
Funny Guy (Score:2, Funny)
When you go to the department store... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:When you go to the department store... (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, those Cognac glasses are only for a certain kind of Cognac. You are not allowed to use them to drink unlicensed brands of Cognac. And don't even think about putting anything else in them. Want to drink water out of them? If we catch you, we will sue you.
Valenti is an idiot. He almost single-handedly killed the entertainment industry with his crusade against VCRs (a technology that actually saved the industry). I cannot figure out why the industry even pays him lip service because he is a moron. Oh, he doesn't mind technology so long as it has all the controls in place he wants and it is illegal to change those controls.
Breaking stuff (Score:3, Interesting)
That nice, except Cognac doesn't make sunglasses for toddlers. Many DVDs, on the other hand, are aimed towards children despite the discs being quite fragile.
If your kid's big wheel breaks after only minutes of riding it, I'm sure Fisher Price has a replacement plan for it.
Re:Breaking stuff (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Breaking stuff (Score:2)
The full quote (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The full quote (Score:3, Informative)
Ha. Tell that to my Dell PowerVault 220S!
1000 algorithms (Score:2, Insightful)
>can spend the time and effort to try to plumb through those 1,000 algorithms to try to find a way to beat it.
Yes, 1000 algorithms is the way to go..? ...how about just using one that works..
Re:1000 algorithms (Score:3, Funny)
Hypocrit! (Score:2)
Great Grammar There. (Score:5, Insightful)
Engadget has an interview with Jack Valenti, the outgoing president of the MPAA and the object of hatred for many hacker after he took he on DVD Jon, who is retiring tomorrow after more than three decades on the job.
He took he? On DVD Jon, who is retiring tomorrow?
when he says stuff like
Yeah, shame on Engadget, and stuff.
but it is at least slightly encouraging to hear that he owns a TiVo.
This is similar to the MS Security Manager running Firefox [slashdot.org] news bit. Because Jack Valenti owns and enjoys a TiVo, means he condones all aspects of the technology? No, it's more likely Jack Valenti likes to use a TiVo as a new-fangled VCR.
Let's see what Google turned up [hollywoodreporter.com]:
"The MPAA, NFL and other sports leagues attempted to convince the agency that the devices pose a threat to copyrighted works and could be used to broadcast games where they are blacked out. FCC commissioners disagreed, finding that the fears were unfounded. MPAA chief Jack Valenti, who will step down next month, personally lobbied all five commissioners, FCC sources said."
Re:Great Grammar There. (Score:2)
But isn't that equivalent to inviting the Boston strangler [edgecity.net] over for tea? Shame on you, Jack!
It cuts both ways... (Score:5, Insightful)
Make up your mind Jack.
"/Dread"
Re:It cuts both ways... (Score:5, Insightful)
Nobody thinks they are owed a FREE copy. It's a matter of what, exactly, the $15 they paid originally gets them. Is it $1 for the media and $14 for the license that allows you one copy? If so, then if you damage your copy, does not that $14 license entitle you to a replacement media for $1? Or if it's $14 for the media and $1 for the license, can I burn myself five extra copies and send them $1 for each as license payment? They try to position it as being, at the same time, both and neither. They claim the $15 is just for the license when you try to make copies, but then they later claim the $15 is for the media when you want a replacement for a scratched disc. They can't logically have it both ways, but they've successfully lobbied to get the law to say they can have their cake and eat it too.
Security through obscurity (Score:3, Insightful)
Do they really believe that security though obscurity is going to help them. For every "genius" they employ to obfusticate their format their will be 100 geniuses out there ready to write software to get round it.
The fact that the media is in the physically possession of the users means that given enough time all security measures can be defeated.
1000 algorithms? (Score:2, Redundant)
Yes, clearly the man is an expert on the tech side of the issue and we all should listen to what he has to say about the tech.
Seriously, nobody should be surprised of the fuss caused by this guy. I mean, who'd be surprised that a truck driver (or a businessman for that matter) would screw up a surgery?
Back ups=illegal? (Score:2, Insightful)
You have been brainwashed (Score:5, Insightful)
You have been apparently indoctrinated with a great success, but the fact is that you don't need any special "right to watch" a movie, like you don't need any "right to read [gnu.org]" a book, at least not yet. The only thing that the copyright law regulates is the right to publish and distribute, not any magical "right to see" which would somehow make illegal the very act of merely looking at publicly available things, which would be completely ridiculous. Please do not spread the FUD. The scums like Jack Valenti want us to think that way, but it does's make it true. Please try to keep that in mind. This is actually extremely important because if all of people think like yourself, then no one will protest when corporations finally put it into law, because everyone will think it has always been that way, which is simply not true. I wouldn't have even answered to this post but it was moderated as Score:5, Insightful so apparently there are more misinformed people here.
Too late (Score:4, Informative)
Jack Valenti is a liar! (Score:5, Insightful)
No it doesn't. CDs rust because of manufacturing defects. DVDs scratch so easily you'd think they were designed to need replacing if the kids get hold of them! Jack's comment is like saying that insurance is unnecessary because houses don't burn down. Software manufacturers will replaced damaged media for a nominal fee. The DVD manufacturers could make the "you don't need a backup" line a reality if they offered $1 replacements for damaged DVDs and $0.50 replacements for CDs that get damaged, and indeed, there should be a legal mandate for them to do so upon production of a scratched original. They could handle it through the record stores - bring in your old CD or DVD, hand over your dollar, and get a bright new shining one. That would make consumers happy about buying such fragile media. At that point, however, they would not be able to say - sorry, run out of copies. They would have to make more copies rapidly if more people come back. This should also last as long as the copyright lasts upon the programme material + 50, just in case. Ofcourse, if you don't copyright it and give it to the public domain, you don't have to supply backups - now that's fair.
LIE "But I visited the labs at Caltech, and they're running an experiment called FAST where they can bring down a DVD-quality movie in 5 seconds. " what's that - about 1GB per second?? Anyone know a hard drive that fast and affordable for my edit suite??? Sure cache it in RAM first..... Seriously Jack...
LIE "There is no fair use to take something that doesn't belong to you. That's not fair use..... Now, fair use is not in the law." It's fair that we get screwed by the MPAA, but not fair when every TV advert for every movie I've ever seen says "own it on DVD" - for emphasis "OWN IT". If I own it, whatever I do with it is fair. If I own it I don't have a right to a free or very cheap replacement of the media. I know I don't own software as it's licenced. But I must own the DVD as you told me - it can't be licenced. Now which way do you want it Jack. If I own it, I'll do whatever the hell I like with it.
LIE "So there are no restrictions that Hollywood wants to place on what people can do with media on their computers?
Well, I can't tell you that. We have to see what the technology can provide." So what you're really saying Jack is that you want Linux and open source OSs illegal, everyone to buy Microsoft and have computers so restricted that they're practically games and entertainment consoles. Jack - you're such a hypocrite.
Re:Jack Valenti is a liar! (Score:3, Informative)
From a press release: The protocol is called FAST, standing for Fast Active queue management Scalable Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The researchers have achieved a speed of 8,609 megabits per second (Mbps) by using 10 simultaneous flows of data over routed paths, the largest aggregate throughput ever accomplished in such a configuration. More importantly, the FAST protocol sustained this speed using standar
Re:Jack Valenti is a liar! (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, Fair Use IS in the law. Title 17, Section 107:
Re:Jack Valenti is a liar! (Score:4, Informative)
I have a number of CD-Rs from a few years ago that are discoloured in the extreme; a few of them I ditched, as they were indeed unusable.
I don't suppose it's rust, but it's certainly a degradation of the materials involved. I don't recall seeing such degradation on any comercially-produced, pressed CDs, though.
Re:Jack Valenti is a liar! (Score:4, Informative)
But that's the point, isn't it? If we could make our own, it would be a problem. Adding draconian copyright law into the equation was an interesting touch... if they claim to hold the copyright then they should have copies available for sale. As soon as they decide to stop manufacturing, they should forfit the copyright.
That may sound draconian on my part, but in this age of on-demand CDs, surely they can make me a new copy of "Song of the South"** without requiring a new production run...
The problem with my suggestion is they can suddenly declare "OK, it's now in the public domain", but everyone's copy is copy-restricted.
Here's an idea. YOU could make the backups (which you CAN do) yourself.
I can? Legally? How? Tell me what software I can buy that will allow me to create a playable duplicate? Oh, wait... selling a product that bypasses copyright protection is illegal...
So you're saying, because I'm reading slashdot, I'm probably nerdy enough to be able to do it myself... that may be true, but it's not true in general. It doesn't apply when my Dad calls asking if it's possible, or my sister calls and asks if it's possible...
** Yes, I mention "Song of the South" for a reason.
Missing the point on the cognac there (Score:4, Insightful)
it's not the glas that matter but the contents of the glass!
I buy a glas of cognac because I want cognac, I get the glas with the cognac - not the other way round.
Now my glass breaks - this can happen. No big deal however, because I poured a bit of cognac into another glas beforehand so I can still taste it's fine taste.
(replace "glass" with CD/DVD and "cognac" with movie/music in case you didn't get it)
I guess those people really don't want to see the reality...
Those all powerful Cognac glasses... (Score:5, Funny)
Boston stangler (Score:5, Funny)
"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone."
Jack Valenti, 1982 click me [edgecity.net]
Another Quotable from Valenti (Score:5, Interesting)
Beautiful.
--
Will
Reverse Ageism (Score:4, Insightful)
Technological Genius' (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, but which side are these technological genius' fighting for?
I have said, technology is what causes the problem, and technology will be the salvation of the problem. I really do believe we can stuff enough algorithms in a movie that only the dedicated hackers can spend the time and effort to try to plumb through those 1,000 algorithms to try to find a way to beat it. In time, we'll be able to do this, because I have great fait
Such classic ignorance (Score:5, Insightful)
"I really do believe we can stuff enough algorithms in a movie that only the dedicated hackers can spend the time and effort to try to plumb through those 1,000 algorithms to try to find a way to beat it."
Re-he-he-heally. Don't you realize that once ONE person breaks it (out of, oh, maybe, 3 billion hackers worldwide), then you've got the raw data, which you can copy directly to whatever and whomever you want. This is some sort of religious belief in encryption and obfuscation that is not shared by anyone who knows anything about scientific computing. CSS was broken, AES, DES, RCA, VHS, MP3, GTFO, and WTF have all been broken. And guess what? The future ones will be too!
Find a new path.
-Dave
Re:Such classic ignorance (Score:3, Insightful)
P4 satellite encryption is one such scheme, used by I think DirecTV in the states these days (different to the previous system they used where the smart cards were vulnerable to glitching).
Likewise the system used by Sky in the UK has not yet been cracked to my knowledge.
Game console security is likewise rather go
like hearing a report from the kid who didn't stud (Score:3, Insightful)
The licensing issue (digital things last forever) really shocked me. Tech stuff sure, he's old and never had a clue. I'm not shocked he just said "use 1000 algorithims" and then followed up with "only the dedicated hackers will make copies". I'm sure those dedicated hackers won't bother making anyone else copies.
but really the "cognac glass" analogy was something he *should* be able to spell out for us and have it stay consistent with the party line. I don't license cognac glasses! Here's a better analogy jerk weed.
If a lease a car I am essentially licensing it and have to stay within a lot of restrictions. If I BUY the car I can do whatever the hell I like. OK cars may be a little too modern for Jack. I think he might understand a horse analogy but it's 7am and I really need sleep.
Sure it's stealing. (Score:2, Insightful)
By the letter of the law, my using Bittorrent to download the latest Adam Sandler flick is stealing.
But I don't have equal representation in DC either. Democratic law is the result of agreed upon rules that the entire society has determined to be equitable. Bribeing legistators & judges is hardly inside the bounds of law, and it is exactly how this man creates the laws that make my action illegal. (not talking about morrality)
"10 congac glasses"
The glass maker doesn't tell me what brand of congac I
Re:Sure it's stealing. (Score:5, Informative)
By the letter of the law, my using Bittorrent to download the latest Adam Sandler flick is stealing.
NO. IT IS COPYRIGHT VIOLATION.
EVERY time a story like this comes along a THOUSAND brave volunteers leap up and point out the difference between intellectual and physical property laws, and STILL there remains this hard core that simply cannot Get It.
If you're going to talk about the 'letter of the law', shouldn't you read at least a brief overview of said law first?
Yet, hope is eternal and so on this day I do my part in the eternal struggle, by saying again in a loud, clear voice:
It is not STEALING but COPYRIGHT VIOLATION. Not the THEFT of MATERIAL PROPERTY but the UNLICENSED DUPLICATION of INFORMATION.
VCRs (Score:5, Informative)
From the interview:
Seems to have changed eir tune since the 1982 Betamax testimony [quintessenz.org]:
Re:VCRs (Score:5, Interesting)
Somehow cable became so common and people became so passive that cable now has just as much advertising as broadcast, and the quality of the ads and programming is generally lower on cable.
So now we pay the content providers to watch the content, and the advertisers pay them to slip us ads. We even get advertised to when paying the ultimate in high-prices at the theaters. I think that in a decade's time you'll see movies with one or two commercial-filled 'intermissions' under the pretense of letting elderly folks use the potty. Just watch.
Re:VCRs (Score:3, Funny)
I think that in a decade's time you'll see movies with one or two commercial-filled 'intermissions' under the pretense of letting elderly folks use the potty. Just watch.
Not to mention product placement. I really enjoyed watching I, Robot at the cinema, except before it started, an advert told me to "hate piracy" (no kidding), and right at the beginning, the protagonist got some "vintage 2004 sneakers, a thing of beauty".
Films are set in an alternate universe where everyone drinks Pepsi [mcspotlight.org] and uses Apple
Pathetic Interview (Score:3, Insightful)
Where's the followup questions? Jack gives us his crackpot analogy of backup being the same as physical replacement and the interviewer doesn't query him on the differences.
This is a fawning and pathetic excuse of an interview that's only been done because the interviewer promised to play nice in exchange for the exposure his site would get interviewing Jack Valenti.
Re:Pathetic Interview (Score:3, Insightful)
Where's the followup questions?
Web publishers seem to have grown into the belief lately that an acceptable way of conducting an interview is to e-mail a list of questions to the subject, and then print his responses.
It works fine in many cases (see some of the more successful slashdot interviews, for example), but often just winds up with unsatisfactory answers that don't help anyone (e.g. the slashdot interview of Shatner last year(?)).
What about crack pipes? (Score:3, Insightful)
Ouch, it sounds like he doesn't know the difference between intellectual property and physical property.
By extension: if I'm an artist and I sell a song to him, I guess I only sell that physical media with the song, and not the song itself.
Hmmm, or is he saying that intellectual property can only be owned by a corporation and not an individual? Great! Therefore, if I buy a Cognac glass, I can make a hundred exact (or modified) copies. Isn't that OK?
But then again, who runs down to the department store to by 10 Cognac glasses? Who is this guy?
Fair Use IS in the law. (Score:5, Informative)
"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."
Reference is also made to "the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes" -- to which "remix[ing] a few seconds of a Hollywood movie into a home movie project" certainly applies, and argument could be made that that remixing constitutes criticism, comment, or even teaching (video editing is a skill, too).
Between Valenti making claims like these, and the American Library Association going head-to-head [wired.com] with the Business Software Alliance to combat their misinformation about copyright, I have to wonder whether these guys realise the long-term damage they're doing to their reputations, since eventually, the truth will out.
Anyway, the law exists, just in case anyone was wondering. Kthxbye.
TiVo - for them, not for you (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:TiVo - for them, not for you (Score:3, Funny)
A quote... (Score:5, Funny)
A digital thing lasts forever???
Maybe after 10 cognac glasses...
On the Cognac glass thing... (Score:5, Insightful)
1) I can take one of the remaining glasses to a friend who is a hobbyist glass blower and see if he can make one for me free of charge (assuming the glass design is trademarked)
2) I can get my own Cognac glass blowing setup and make an myself a new matching glass once I've aquired the skills and materials.
3) After making one or two for myself, I can crank out a whole bunch for my friends free of charge as Christmas presents, anniversary gifts, or wedding presents.
4) I can take detailed measurements of the glasses, bring them to a glass factory, and have them turn out duplicates for me (legal or not, this happens ALL OF THE TIME in industry) so that I can avoid the high costs of buying from the original manufacturer.
5) I can throw a Cognac party for as many people I want, and allow those folks to view and use my legally purchased Cognac glasses without fear of reprocussion.
Now, which of these options are available to me to do legally with CDs or DVDs?
what about License (Score:3, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Who asked to be given backup copies ? (Score:5, Insightful)
Bascially, we'd like to be treated the same as when we buy a set of glasses: once, we've bought it, we can do anything we want with it. Glassmakers don't try to have people put in jail for post articles on how to blow glass [glassnotes.com].
My Article Analysis (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, but it only takes 1 of thoes great hackers to break it, then it's a simple matter of adding a GUI jack. Why are your technical experts not telling you that? Job Security?
"We can't afford to let that be copied at that juncture because it's the [home entertainment] aftermarket where you make your profits."
Jack, how could this be? Here's what you said about the home entertainment market earlier in your career:
The growing and dangerous intrusion of this new technology," Jack Valenti said, threatens an entire industry's "economic vitality and future security." Mr. Valenti, the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, was testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, and he was ready for a rhetorical rumble. The new technology, he said, "is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman alone."
This is not about the internet or file sharing, it was in 1982, and he was talking about videocassette recorders. If Jack Valenti had his way back then (he almost did as the Sony BetaMax case went all the way to the Supreme Court) we wouldn't have VCRs today, Blockbuster wouldn't exist and 50% of Hollywoods income wouldn't exist.
Jack, your starting to look like an old fool.
"There is no fair use to take something that doesn't belong to you.
Really? Congress disagrees.
"I have a TiVo set. I truly enjoy it."
Really Jack? Ever FF through the commercials? You know that would be stealing from the broadcast industry? Are you a Pirate Jack?
"Where did this backup copy thing come from? A digital thing lasts forever. "
It sure does Jack, but as I'm sure thoes great technical minds you have working for you have said, the physical medium doesn't. Plus, you want to make it illegal to create a digital copy, which locks the content to your degradable media.
" I hope people will say I never had a hidden agenda, and I never played it cute around the turns, and that my integrity stayed intact."
Sorry to dissapoint you Jack, but I think your a lying fool who can't see the forest for the trees.
Beating a dead horse... (Score:3, Insightful)
Jack Valenti has proven himself to be an ingorant jackass in just about anything that comes out of his mouth. As tons of others have pointed out already, his man's analogies are the stupidest fucking things I've ever heard.
Cognac glasses vs. downloading movies... yeah, those are the same things alright!
In any case, these people need to get lost. Nothing they say or do has any effect on anything. They can go out and sue movie/music sharers all they want, but they can't sue everybody and eventually they'll be called out on their bullying tactics by trying to coerce people into settling.
If anything, all this will do is create alternate methods of redistribution whether it's foreign hosts or anonymous P2P (I personally hope that anonymous P2P will emerge [and work] soon).
Their empty threats and purchased laws mean nothing to me and most people I know. Because of their aggressiveness and ignorance in trying to solve this manner (and in a totally unnecessary and incorrect way, I might add), it has actually caused a significant increase in the amount of media I download. I just simply don't have the desire to purchase anything from em anymore.. and most people will call a boycott, but
Re:Beating a dead horse... (Score:3, Insightful)
The fundamental error all these guys (RIAA, MPAA, baby boomers in general) make is that they think that there's no difference between tangible goods (cognac glasses) and intangible goods (movies, songs).
The fact is that a cognac glass is a physical object and is scarce -- I can't just make a new copy of one on-the-fly.
But if something is digital, it doesn't exist in the real universe, only in our minds; they're created by our own perception. And making copies is trivial -- so whe
CD Burners/Glassblowers (Score:3, Insightful)
Valenti is a Jackass (Score:5, Insightful)
Sleeper (Score:3, Funny)
One Reason (Score:2, Insightful)
Valenti - You are an awesome figurehead to hate. Don't ever get a clue, and fix all the problems in the industry, because then I might have some moral qualms about downloading movies.