BusinessWeek on Open Source and Copy Protection

prostoalex writes "An article starting with the words "Forget about Bill Gates, folks. The biggest enemy of free software may be Senator Ernest F. Hollings" historically had a little chance of being published in a recognized business publication. In this case, though, Business Week (no registration) runs a detailed but straightforward explanation of how the new copyright bills could threaten free software and open source movements."

Comments

Don't mod if you think it's karma whore

[jsse]

but something you should know: Information on Senator Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina

Hollywood needs to change their business model

[galaga79]

Hollywood needs to learn that in order to survive it needs to change their business model so that it adapts to changes in technology, rather than change/control technology to suit aging business models. A perfect example of this is the following paragraph taken from the article in regards to VCRs.

THE VCR SCARE. In 1982, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, famously proclaimed that the videocassette recorder was as threatening to the movies as the Boston Strangler was to a woman walking alone. Twenty years later, video rentals account for 46% of studio revenues, vs. the 24% collected at the box office.

Sounds like history is repeating itself and the MPAA hasn't learnt anything from the past. The MPAA needs to stop being stubburn about changing their business model and start adopting new technologies rather than fighting them off. People like George Lucas have the right idea, as I hear he makes most of his profits off the merchandise.