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Valenti's "Boston Strangler" Testimony
Seth Schoen writes "'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 said this in 1982 in testimony to the House of
Representatives on why the VCR should be illegal. He also called
the VCR an "avalanche" and a "tidal wave", and said it would make
the film industry "bleed and bleed and hemorrhage". This speech is an
important part of history, yet until today it had never been published
on-line in its entirety. Valenti's testimony was published today by Cryptome.
It's essential background reading if you want to see just how little
the MPAA's arguments have changed in two decades." Compare to the Analog Hole document and they're virtually identical (except Valenti was playing on anti-Japanese sentiment then, and today it's anti-pirate sentiment). Of course, the MPAA was unsuccessful in plugging the "VCR Hole" - insufficient lobbying and clueful judges stopped them. The MPAA successfully adapted to the changing times and today sells about 70 million cassettes for rentals and 600 million cassettes for home viewing every year (both numbers are on the decline due to the rise of DVD).
Didn't the record companies say the same thing about audio tape?
They really would be happy if nobody had computers at all, wouldn't they?
There should be a moratorium on the use of the apostrophe.
Max V.
NeXTMail/MIME Mail welcome
... this CNN article about a CD topping the charts despite "rampant piracy"
Quick! Pirate that testimony! Put it on a tshirt! Set it to music, dictate it and sample it!
Remain calm! All is well!
And now the industry makes more money on video rentals than on the theatrical release.
Kind of amazing that they are lobbying so hard against DVD and electronic distribution when any sane person can see the amazing profit potential on the horizon.
Valenti's a nitwit.
load "windows7"
"bleed and bleed" - but would it *really* be a loss for humanity if films were made by the people instead of $$$$ companies which churn out mindless junk?
http://12.225.182.52/valenti_mirror.htm
Any sufficiently well-organized Government is indistinguishable from bullshit.
Even in 1982!
Quote from the article:
"And I think that if a film is marginal, it needs those extra categories to get in. It needs that home box office. It needs that cassette sale to get out of the red or maybe even right up to network television sale. Maybe that is the thing that pushes it into the black. It is very simple. The more films that are in the black, the more films are made, the more men and women are employed by the film industry. "
Yup. Some things produced are so marginal they need every avenue available to them to make their money, but what does the RIAA/MPAA want to do? strangle it with licensing fees... bah, humbug!
It was bad enough that music/software/etc theft was deemed "piracy" long ago, now it can be moved right up the crime chain to murder.
"Yeah, I killed me that new eminem cd! Later I'm gonna go murder me some star wars!"
And they always manage to elevate them to the status of horrible crimes. Copyright infringers are compared to murderers, spammers are compared to rapists. It's a sick-sad-world, but in the end, people are stupid and tend to fall for the hyperbole more often than not.
Valenti -- "Now, they are up to 6 hours. They are going to be up to 24 hours. Pretty soon, they will have a cassette that will record all year long"
And it only takes 2 days to rewind.
Best Windows Freeware
the relative ease to which you can now transfer content between people. Sure, you could make VHS copies of movies in your basement, but you were still limited to physical distribution. Now that distribution is effectively uncapped, the MPAA and RIAA realize their nest eggs are being poached.
The biggest problem with all of this is the lack of concern of the RIAA/MPAA towards their customers. Sure, you will always have a few people hacking and stealing content, but if the movie/music industry realized that the standard of economy is based on the supply/demand chain, they would realize a better way to combat this 'theft'.
I, myself, am an avid DVD-collector, and have quite a repository built. I have no qualms with paying good money to buy a good movie. But what I do expect is for the MPAA to be competitive. Since there are no other options THAN the MPAA, we are all held up to paying 20-35$ for a DVD, which in all reality may only be worth 15-20$. What the MPAA must realize is that their competition is now the free route, and the only way to combat this is to
a) lower prices
b) provide extras to create a competitive advantage
I'd surely shell out 14 bucks to watch AoTC on a big screen over having to watch a pirated version that shakes like a hyperactive child sucking on a lollipop. Sure, there will be the cheapskates that will watch it for free, but those were never really customers of the MPAA anyway.
The MPAA needs to get back to the business of making movies, and distributing the "extras" that make it worthwhile buying.
[VALENTI:] I am going to stand, if you don't mind, Mr. Chairman, cause I have what is known as "visual aids." I know they are visual; whether they are aids or not is something you will have to determine later on.
Mr. KASTENMEIER. And whether they are copyrighted or not.
That is priceless, and Valenti just ignores him and presses on as if nothing happened!
Asikaa
Come in, twenty-seventy-seventy, your time is up.
The media industry (music and film) are so stangnent it's unbelievable.
MP3 and digital music was (actually still is) a chance for them to make lots of money in new ways.
The same goes for digital TV/films, yet they can't see it. I actually worked in Digital TV a while and I don't have any faith in these companies being able to pull off anything worthwhile for the public due to the anal retentives in the media industry.
PVRs are great - the public love them. However, they're by no means the statan to media companies. PVRs will change, allowing targeted programming, targetted adverts, pay per view, etc. Nerds will hate it (I do), but it will happen.
But that's only the start. PVRs are not long for this world, as a set top box anyway. The future will be PVRs in the network - no set top box, no limited 40Gb storage - it will all work in the back end for you. Not only will this offer PVR like functionality but it will bring the reality of video on demand and targeted programming to the masses.
When this happens, the big media companies will be able to make more money from it than they can from their current distribution systems.
If they kill this, their only hope is DVD and then they're opening themselves up to far more piracy.
Personally, I hope all such companies burn in hell, but realistically they'll survive and continue to screw me over with content I don't want. Hopefully the digital revolution will give me a *bit* more choice.
Pretty inflammatory.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
Do you think that if they paid actors at the same ratio as they paid music artist that the actors would continue to make the movies?
No, their arguments haven't changed much over the years... but also, neither have peoples practices. I remember recording movies from the video store on my 2 VCR hookup... but I didn't dent the profit margin any...
And I don't believe that I will by burning or downloading the new Such-and-Such album either.
The Code Ninja is swift with his tool, precise in his delivery, and deadly accurate in his execution.
Some one should mass mail Valenti with copies of his 1982 speech, along with some fresh batteries for his clue meter . . .
It's funny how no one has said anything about DVD burners. I've already managed to copy many DVD's _for my own personal backup_, so just imagine what one of those little buggers could do in the _wrong_ hands
Calm down, it's *only* ones and zeroes.
After Slashdot reported "(both numbers are on the decline due to the rise of DVD)"
The MPAA is demanding DVDs be outlawed.
Valanti said "We need to create a seamless front against the flood of DVDs that create declining movie ticket and video sales."
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
the more and more history i learn, the less i trust everyone. after hearing about The Technology Gap (the bleeding-heart term for computer haves/have nots), I stumbled across something called The Space Gap, which was the argument in the 60's for the Moon landing. If we don't land on the Moon first, the Russians will, and then they'll set up bases and a space army and take over the universe, etc.
special interest groups have been using 'Gap's and 'Hole's and assorted other capitalized terms as their rallying cry for all eternity and so far I have yet to hear of one that was 1/10th as important as they were made out to be.
i'm not telling anyone what to think, but I am personally very skeptical of this kind of argument
Here's a useful piece of info that some dumbass moderators will mod down because of my subject. If you want to get trained in the art of public speaking by Jack Valenti, go here: http://residentassociates.org/rap/otojun/valenti.a sp
You only have a few weeks to register.
Long live the RecipeTroll!!!
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
It's pretty disgusting just how heavily he engages in flag waving and emotional appeals rather than any factual evidence. His testimony starts out with a wonderful:
Excuse me, but isn't it's standing as an asset to the country, to the U.S. Treasury, and the strength of the American dollar because it's an economic enterprise? What a load of overinflated hype. (Not that overinflated hype should be a surprise coming from Hollywood.) The whole rest of his testimony is full of Japan bashing, plain and simple. The issue that he raises is not just that this will hurt the industry, but that it will (gasp) send good American jobs to Japan. When logic fails, I guess you just wrap yourself in the flag and see if that works.
There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.
I found this exchange fascinating:
I'm not one who participates in copyright infringment, even with the strict standards imposed by recent changes to the law. Mr. Valenti's testimony, however, has completely changed my opinion on whether or not it is right for me (y'all are welcome to do as you wish, I'm talking about me) to engage in such practices. What's good for the goose, and all.
I think I'll go download something right now....
b&
All but God can prove this sentence true.
Newspapers love these quotes like "property that we exhibit in theaters... is going to be so eroded in value by the use of these unlicensed machines, that the whole valuable asset is going to be blighted."
And I definitely see something like "Unlicenced Machines: Comparing Anti-VCR and Anti-PC Arguments from the Film Industry" being accepted at an undergrad research conference.
This means more people hear about, (hopefully) more people think about, and more people tell others about these nonsense arguments.
'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
.jpg/.png/.bmp whatever image and go to cafepress.com and get to selling. I might buy one.
I smell a T-shirt opportunity. Err, maybe after it got dirty, then I would smell it. God that was lame. Anyway, seriously, someone with some more motivation then me, make that or another comment from his statement into a
Thank goodness this testimony became available. Through it, Jack Valenti was finally able to set me straight. Here's one of the truly remarkable things he said:
"I have spent most of my adult life in politics and you learn one thing. Nothing of value is free. "
Now I know I should erase Linux and FreeBSD from my company's servers and install Windows. Because, obviously, if I got something for free, it's worthless. And how can you base a business on something that's worthless?
Thank goodness he set me free. Amazing how prescient he proved to be way back in the early eighties.
Thanks, Jack!
-Joe
The time has come for advocates of general purpose tools to adopt some words. "General purpose" I like, but it could be better. Suggestions? Some more ideas, but please, come up with more, everyone:
- 'Piracy' -- Copyright infringement is called just that, 'copyright infringement.' I suggest you stop someone when they use the word 'piracy' and ask them what boats on what ocean they are talking about. "Piracy" has no legal meaning and it only exists because 'copyright infringement' doesn't sound as bad. It's hard to argue with this fact.
- Spyware is an excellent word to use for DivX and Kazaa kind of cases. It's not directly related to this debate as much, but it's an excellent example of choosing your own vocabulary.
- I think we should call programs that play DVD's but don't copy them 'crippleware' or 'defective' -- the MPAA calls them 'secure' -- I call them 'defective.' Even better, let's call anything related to copy restriction 'defective.'
- When speaking specifically, don't use the word 'protection', use the word 'restricted.' Everyone wants a 'protected' computer, no one wants a 'restricted' computer.
- 'Circumvention devices' is OK. But how about 'repair' devices that fix things like defective CDs. Or maybe 'full use' -- the DeCSS is a 'full use' device, in that it gives you full use of your computer.
Think of some good terms, everyone.-- Ken Kinder ken@_nospam_kenkinder.com http://kenkinder.com/
I think the riaa/mpaa would be the happiest if they could charge anytime you listened to a particular copyrighted work. Whether that be on the radio, your music collection, the computer, the internet, humming in your head... It wouldn't even have to be very much each time... Then you could copy away, and you'd still pay!
Will
Looks like the MPAA has turned into the boy who cried wolf. With any luck, a pattern of resisting technological innovation will ultimately serve to discredit them in the eyes of law makers.
Both the MPAA and RIAA have resisted new technologies, like analog tape. In the past they were ultimately told to shut up and deal with it. Once they embraced the new technology, they found new markets.
Now the battleground is digital movies. I'm confident that the industry will eventually be put in their place, and then we'll see what innovations follow. Maybe in a decade, movies will be released straight to home theatre. Perhaps we'll see an immersion style of theatre where you can watch the movie from within it, or even participate.
I wish the industry would learn from their past and maybe try to be the ones innovating instead of the ones whining. They'd make more money dragging us into the future than the other way around.
Some people have a way with words, and some people, um, thingy.
I blame the short little Jewish Boy my high Scholl He was always laughing in the shower room in Pe class while he was twisting a wash cloth in his hands.
*huh* Sig? WTF?
I am speaking on behalf, as he is, as he will no doubt tell you on behalf of hundreds of thousands of men and women who without public knowledge or recognition, who are not besieged by fans, but who are artisans, craftsmen, carpenters, bricklayers, all kinds of people, who work in this industry, not only in this State but in the 50 States where American films are shot on location. And they deserve no less, Mr. Chairman, than the concern of the Congress for the preservation of their industry.
Which means something like "I'm going to speak for the average American. I will tell you what is good for him. He may disagree with me, but that's because he doesn't understand the way things are. I do, so listen to me, and consider my opinion his, because my opinion is the one he would have if he was as smart as me and you."
It's interesting that these people argue that money that is being spent on their products would cease to be spent if their products weren't around. I the RIAA stops working the world won't end, people will just buy something else. In such an entertainment saturated society where in the world do they get the idea that their entertainment is more important than anyone elses to the economy?
Of course, the funniest (or least funny) thing about this is that the same stupid, rediculous arguments are still getting used.
Science may someday discover what faith has always known.
" (Valenti)The average number of cassettes per household -- this is fascinating -- Mrs. Schroeder, was 27.7, 28 cassettes. Now, if you are just time shifting, all you are doing is you are away from home and you are taping something and you come back and you watch the commercial, then you time shift, you don't need 28 cassettes. You need one cassette or at the most two. Why do you have 28? Why? Because of the next line. Seventy-five percent have a permanent collection. My own home, we do it in our on home. I know about that. Anybody that has a VCR, talk to them, and I ask you to use your own commonsense, Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Schroeder, Mr. Railsback, just think of you as human beings. If you had the power to sit on a playback of a recording and you could wipe out the commercials or not wipe out the commercials, what would you do? You would do exactly what you said, sir. That is terrific. Of course. We all do it. But when you do it, you strip away the reason for free television. Now, let me -- Mr. KASTENMEIER. Jack, let me ask you. Do you consider yourself and your family infringers when you engage in that practice? Mr. VALENTI. I consider myself and my family believing what the plaintiffs in this lawsuit said and they said publicly, they have said it to the press, they have said it to the lawyers, they have said it to the courts. They do not intend to file any actions against homeowners now or in the future. I mean, that is obvious and they have said that publicly, Mr. Chairman, so I believe them. As far as I am concerned, I am going to continue taping because the plaintiffs have said they aren't going to do anything to me. I am not committing any crime." This guy needs to be taken out back and shot!
Is he dead? Is he alive? Is he and his family still not using a VCR? What about the other Valenti clones in MPAA? Or is he still in charge of MPAA?
They are waiting for someone to come with a technically sound and feasible revenue model for online distribution. Till that happens they will cry and go for war.
Tat Tvam Asi
Your reality is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever. - Baron Munchausen
>One final point, Mr. Chairman, and then I am through and I have taken more time than I should have, but I am so fascinated by what I am saying --
Sixth paragraph from the end of Valenti's speach, just before Clint Eastwood begins.
"I am fascinated by what I am saying".
Weird
But, with file sharing, the word can get out about upcoming albums. Eminem's album is a perfect example. It jumped to number one, even though it had been available on the net and street corners. Why did it go to #1? Maybe because they said "hey, let's give the buying public a little something extra." Or maybe because enough people heard a few songs from it on the net, and wanted to go buy the album ANYWAY.
I sure hope some lawyer is keeping track of all of this.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
"The earth is undoubtedly flat." --Valenti talking to the Queen in the early `1400's
"Television is never going to be successful."--Valenti talking to himself in front of a bathroom mirror in 1919
"I haven't had an erection in 12 years."--Valenti talking to his wife in 2001.
-bgs006
Find Valenti and other societal rejects at inmates.com.
I found it fascinating that not only the MPAA (Valenti) was testifying. The national association of theatre owners, the actors guild, people from television, actors, etc. etc. All against the VCR, and all so set in their ways that they couldn't see the forest for the trees.
Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
This is actually kinda sad...
This repeat of history made me wonder about the story behind Jack Valenti. According to the MPAA web site, Jack is (or was) actually a truly remarkable man. He was a war hero and had an impressive career before becoming only the third President of the MPAA. Unfortunately that happened back in 1966. This is often the problem with having one person in power for so long.
The MPAA site seems to be as much about him as it is about the industry, with the press release page actually titled "Jack". The funniest thing is from this intro to his bio [my emphasis]:
"In his current role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of America, Valenti has presided over a world wide sea change in the industry. New magical technology, the rise of importance of international markets, the tyranny of piracy have radically changed the landscape of the American film and television industry."
ACC quotes aside, technology does not equal magic. Jack, thanks, I'm sure that at one time you did a real bang up job but please step aside for someone who can understand and appreciate the direction and impact of new technology on our culture, and perhaps someone who's bio starts off with an appreciation of the majesty of the film industry, rather than fear mongering about issues you clearly can't handle.
My next sig will be ready soon, but friends can beat the rush!
I mean, they've already invaded the sporting world. Yeah, it's considerably easier to get away with it in that arena, but it can still sound pretty dumb. Visa Triple Crown? Nokia Sugar Bowl?
'Cause they grow so much sugar in Finland. (I guess sugar beets is close enough.)
-r
Just because something is free does not mean you have to take it.
Yay for Slashdot... [...] God damn you guys are fucking pathetic.
You know, I discovered something recently. There are, it seems, lots and lots of other websites out there. You may not believe this, but Slashdot is not, in fact, the only website! What put me on to this was one of the links I saw in one of the articles here... it actually went to another website! As hard as it is to believe, there is actually some sort of rebel faction of websites that are not under the Slashdot dominion! Anyway, I thought the folks like yourself that are endlessly raging against the /. machine might just want to try some of these other websites instead. We'd miss you, of course... well, not really, but you are welcome to believe that if you like.
There was no Internet, and therefore no easy device to facilitate wide-scale piracy in 1982. I just logged into my ISP's news server and alt.binaries.svcd has a ton of movies in it.
I'll bet real pirates are pissed that their image has been hijacked for the sake of copyright protection.
Pirates used to be swarthy, maruading, swashbucklers, living adventurously on the high seas. Now the term has been relegated to the description of pimply-faced, 16 year-old, recluses, downloading techno MP3s in the middle of the night.
The whole ordeal must be quite disheartening for them.
"Now, they are up to 6 hours. They are going to be up to 24 hours. Pretty soon, they will have a cassette that will record all year long"
Like TiVo? It records all year long, but shows expire.
Audio, on the other hand... A single CD-R disc can store over 48 hours worth of better-than-telephone-quality (32 kbps MP3) audio.
Will I retire or break 10K?
From what I understand, you're under no obligation to provide anything to the distributors of free software, just as they're not under obligation to continue developing it. Saying that someone just using free software is a freeloader because they don't devote any time or money to its continued development is two-faced. There's a term for software that's distributed freely and yet expects a return and it's Shareware.
The software the poster mentions is free. There may be some license out there that mandates that anyone who uses the software must contribute back to the project, but that sounds pretty close to not-free to me.
Linux is free, the GPLed software is generally free, copy-lefted things are really free. Free in the sense meant in the quote, in that they dont cost the user anything monetarily.
Sweat
It breaks my pluginses, my precious!
mod to -1
Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits
Hammer of Truth
VALENTI: ... I have what is known as "visual aids."
Here, "aids" is a singular noun; otherwise, Valenti would have said "I have what are known as visual aids." In general, when the English word "aids" is singular, it is written with all capital letters and refers to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, the HIV disease spread by sexual promiscuity and sharing of hypodermic needles.
If Valenti can share his private parts and/or needles, why can't we share his movies?
Will I retire or break 10K?
Jack Valenti admits that he tapes shows all the time, fast forwards over the commercials, and that his son is building a nice tape library.
He feels guilty about it, admits it's infringement but doesn't worry because copyright infringement is not a crime, and he doesn't plan to sue any householders, (especially himself.)
I could only sit thinking, "Stop me before I tape again!"
'Nuff said. Borrowing as many DVDs as you can, using DeCSS, etc, to copy. I guess your blockbuster membership would work just as well (one of those 30 movies in 30 days would be a good bet)...
:-)
I'm not an American Film producer, but as a member of the American Public, I sure know that my VCR makes me nervous when it skulks around outside my house plotting to strangle me. When will this madness end.
You really shouldn't mention strangling and Valenti in the same sentence.
I'm young and impressionable, and my attention span is short on Fridays. I might take the reference as a suggestion.
...there is no flashing 12:00 on most DVD players.
This is the start of the week where we hate the MPAA because they have evil tactics, grossly mis-represent prices, and want to ruin Fair Use rights by things like the DMCA, DeCSS censorship, etc.
But this passed week, we liked the MPAA by writing about how great Attack of the Clones is, arguments over Spider-man and AotC were different, who "won" that battle, and about the Lord of the Rings DVD coming out.
Great. Now I can continue to be part of the groupthink of Slashdot. And here I was, just about to submit an article about how great the MPAA is... Sweet God, can you imagine the trouble it might have caused?
How do you spell "Hypocrite"? S-L-A-S-H-D-O-T.
hold on, first off let me say that i detest the tactics that the MPAA and RIAA implement to 'defend' their artists.
however, in their defense let me say this:
there is a big difference between cassettes and CDs. there is a big difference between VHS tapes and DVDs.
the difference is the transfer quality when duplicating. when you duplicate an original VHS tape, each recording has 'lost' just a little bit of quality. so, when you make copies from copies, it gets worse and so on; same with cassettes.
however, with DVDs and CDs, you can make copies from copies from copies with no degradation. this is what scares the holy hell out of the RIAA and MPAA.
but, you know what? i hate the RIAA and MPAA amd they can eat out of my butt.
"The US government is, and never was, charged with the responsibility to ensure that a business model that made money in the past is able to make money in the future."
-I forget who
"There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. "
-I forget who
What about LOVE?
Love is not free, it's just your nerves that pay.
Nothing of value is free, but some values can not be expressed in terms of monitary value. Love is great. Love sucks. Both are expressions of the value of love, measured in something other than dollars.
This concept is what escapes Jack and Hillery. Being nothing more than mindless robots for the music and movie industry, they are not required to know that some things are beyond price, but not beyond value. What is the Mona Lisa worth? Would any one sell it if they knew that the purchaser was going to burn it? Fair use rights are on the auction block. A priceless right gone forever is worthless, in terms of dollars, but valued beyond the greed of Midas for J&H.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
When the freshness wears off, the prices drop to try to get something from the people who aren't willing to pay that much.
No, prices really drop to clear out the inventory. The publishers of music, movies, and video games don't want you to buy old stuff; they want you to buy their more expensive new stuff. Witness the movie companies (especially DisneyCo) pulling old videos from store shelves and lobbying for copyright term extensions to thwart the preservation of classic films.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Silly rabbit. In any other line of work, if 8 out of 10 products fail, they might actually rethink their business model. But no, Hollywood has the slash and burn mentality which states that they can just keep releasing crap and still make money. I like what Eastwood said about the merits of using the "home box office" to further a movie's earning potential but I don't like the fact that he was a stooge for the cause of the MPAA and their ilk.
We can't afford a mineshaft gap!
The only problem with the argument that Valenti and the MPAA are crying wolf again is that, eventually the boy cries wolf and there really is a wolf.
So if we want to refute them in this way, one also has to ask, is there really a wolf this time?
So, basically this all means two things as I see it:
1) Don't listen to a think Valenti says.
2) Keep looking for wolves anyway.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Coincidentally, there was an article on the front page of the Business section of the San Jose Mercury today, where Valenti was spreading FUD about online piracy hurting movie sales.
Online film piracy cuts into industry profit
I am not sure why, but to illustrate this problem, they used two huge blockbuster movies, which are setting records for revenue, SpiderMan, and Attack of the Clones.
The article quotes from our favorite superhero, in his typically understated manner:
``It's getting clear -- alarmingly clear, I might add -- that we are in the midst of the possibility of Armageddon,'' said Jack Valenti, president and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America.
This guy has been meddling in politics since LBJ was in office. His view of technology has obviously not changed since that time.
Valenti's gonna be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.
Ooooooh! Behave! You are such a naughty little nerd-boy!
...technology into each and every consumer-grade VCR out there. It's called Macrovision people. When was the last time you tried to record a video cassette (that you bloody well BOUGHT, no less) onto a temporary copy so you could better preserve the original in an archive?
Uh huh. Thought so.
They just want to do the same thing to digital devices. It's just proving a lot harder to do. But for all your belly-aching and all your complaining about how information wants to be free, digital devices are too uncontrollable, too hackable, to maintain the threshold of expertise required to bypass them. (Witness DeCSS and descendants!)
Not everyone can double-click and magically cause a de-macrovision device to pop up so they can record from one VCR to another. They have to either fork out $$ to buy a device, or be advanced enough with analog devices and time-signals to build one themselves. Macrovision turned out to be an extremely effective form of copy protection. Unfortunately broadcast signals are so full of ads and trimmed to fit the schedules of the networks that there's not much point in using them as an alternative. Broadcast is not on-demand programming.
Now, anyone can rip and re-encode a DVD. Just go to http://www.doom9.net, it's all right there.
You're insane if you expect to come out of this with devices that are clean from the touch of the MPAA. But the fact that you're fighting for that means that the MPAA won't get away with true murder--just a relatively minor assault. The more outfield you go, the further towards your position the compromise will be.
We have to buy him a bandanna, an eyepatch, a hook, a cutlass, a parrot for his shoulder, a striped shirt and some black pants and boots. After all,
:P
JACK VALENTI IS A FUCKING PIRATE
Jack Sez: I am taking somebody else's copyrighted material without their consent and I know damn well I am infringing.
So here's what you need to do:
STOP GIVING MONEY TO THE COPYRIGHT INDUSTRY
DO NOT STEAL THEIR STUFF EVEN IF THEY'RE A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES!!!
Then donate money to people who can help and give money to politicians who might be supportive and write to your politicians once in a while. (Write in a nice way). You can actually be better than JACK! He's a fucking pirate! You don't have to be one! But don't support him either! And most of all
Don't do what he did. You can't win by lowering yourself to their level!
He's a pirate. Don't be like him. But don't give him any money either! He'll just use it to break copyright laws.
Best. Comment. Ever. Enjoy!
I think he tries to tell the judge that he is fascinated by the subject. At least I hope that is what he is trying to say. :)
--
"I'm surfin the dead zone
In the twilight, unknown"
IANAL but with my basic knowledge of anti trust laws it seems that since all of the member companies of the RIAA are separate companies they the MPAA & RIAA should be pooling and price fixing and what not.
Unless they bought congress to let them do this
Some comparisons in his rhetoric and how it has (not) changed...
"I am just a simple caveman..."
Valenti, 1982 - I am not a lawyer; I beg to ask the forgiveness of all of you in the UCLA Law School. If I was smart enough maybe I would have been a lawyer and then I would feel more comfortable about presenting this case. "
Valenti, 2000 - "I am not a lawyer. I wanted to be one; go to Harvard Law School. Ended up at Harvard Business School - if I am arrogant, that's what they taught me - haha. "
"We are a poor industry..."
Valenti, 1982 - "Now, let me tell you something about the high-risk business that we are in. This may be one of the most precarious business enterprises which a man or a woman can enter. Movie making is a high-risk business. Let me cite you some examples. The average film costs $20 million...And 6 out of 10 films do not retrieve their total investment period. Now, what are you going to do right on top of that? There is going to be a VCR avalanche."
Valenti, 2000 - "For the movie business in the Internet era, a threat on opening nights is someone copying the new movie and sending it out over the Internet. An average movie costs $52 million to make. Only two in ten ever profit from theatre sales."
Demonizing the perceived Enemy as "deadly", "pirates", "stranglers", "terrorists", etc.
Valenti, 1982 - "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.
Valenti, 1982 - "The public interest is at stake here. It is the public interest that you have by solemn oath sworn to serve because what I am talking about and what the rest of these witnesses are talking about is making it possible for a steady stream of quality entertainment to reach people through their television sets....
Valenti, 1997 - "It was a historic meeting...a first-time commitment of full government support at the highest level of the Russian leadership to a long-term plan to decrease surely and radically the deadly hold of pirates on the intellectual property community
Valenti 2002 - "There are more than nine and a half million broadband subscribers now. Once those large pipes and high-speed access subscribers begin to increase, we can be terrorized by what's going on."
Valenti 2002 - "We're fighting our own terrorist war."
But some things have changed...or have they?
Valenti, 1982 - "Now, these machines are advertised for one purpose in life. Their only single mission, their primary mission is to copy coyrighted material that belongs to other people..."
Valenti, 2000 - " Look at Sony-Betamax. The VCR had substantial non-infringing use. For example if you time-shift (tape now and playback later). But the court in Sony-Betamax did not rule on shifting to ten million people. So watch how you cite Sony-Betamax. Napster is not time-shifting - but sharing with anonymous millions."
Interesting.
W
-------------------
This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
"I have spent most of my adult life in politics and you learn one thing. Nothing of value is free. "
So, he's saying that the people of the US aren't valuable? (I keep hearing them say they're the biggest part of the "free world".)
The MPAA is a bunch of thugs and Jack Valenti is just a mob boss.
We all know that they are using unethical and illegal tactics to deprive citizens of the U.S. (and the world) of their rights.
Valenti's credibility is dead. It has ceased to exist. The only reason he doesn't fall down is that he has been nailed to the perch. Lovely plumage, though.
..."Some things produced are so marginal they need every avenue available to them to make their money"...
Like 'Bronco Billy'?
it is going to be so eroded in value by the use of these unlicensed machines
If what you own cannot be protected, you own nothing.
their primary mission is to copy coyrighted material that belongs to other people
so people in the privacy of their home can tape anything that they choose, but it links to that the indispensable buckling that must take place and that is, it establishes a copyright royalty fee
87 percent, 86.8 percent of all these owners erase or skip commercials.
Pretty soon, they will have a cassette that will record all year long, I suppose.
you will be hearing from the audio people on Wednesday, Mr. Chairman, and there is a business that is collapsing before our very eyes; $2 billion a year in stolen property
Valenti also included an 85-page attached statement. I just ate lunch so I won't be reading this today.
Well, how much would Valenti pay for air to breath ?
'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.'
So the VCR will victimize only a tiny fraction but scare the shit out of the rest.
I would say that is exactly what happened.
I thought everyone on Slashdot hated the RIAA, the MPAA, and Microsoft. Why do you keep hyping CDs, movies, and Windows games?
Big corporations are what they are. They sell us cool stuff with one hand and tighten the screws on our freedoms with the other. We hate them every morning and love them every afternoon, and vice versa. This is part of living in the modern world: you take your yin with your yang and try to figure out how to do what's right the best you can. If you think it has to be all one way or the other, that's cool, share your opinions, but don't expect everyone else to think the same.
"If I am such a genius, how come that I am drunk and lost in the desert with a bullet in my ass?" --Otto (Malcom ITM)
To see if they are playing music without paying the RIAA. I think they have a name for this sneaky bunch, although I can't remember it at the moment. They nearly put my favorite hangout out of business... apparantly they sent a guy in one night and he heard a local artist doing a cover song. Nyet, said the RIAA. We own that song. Anybody know more about these guys? I'm sure I didn't get the whole story from the guy that owns the bar.
After reading a few paragraphs of this uninspired, poorly spoken testimony by Jack Valentini, I've come to the obvious conclusion: (1) He's racist or at least a demagogue; (2) He's a lying bastard; (3) He's incredibly fucking dumb; (4) He's a short sighted man; (5) Because of the above, we have no more reason to consider his paranoia about "infringement" today than we did back then.
(1) He's a racist/demagogue. Its obvious from this that the man is racist. His remarks regarding the Japanese come in the category of "they're fucking us over" paranoia. If he's not a racist, he's at least a demagogue, willing to rile up people's sentiments to fulfill his ambitions. In other words, he's fine with the fact that his testimony leaves people with racist impressions, or that it leaves them irrationally stereotyping.
(2) He's a lying bastard. This is an obvious point, as video tapes have no ruining the movie industry; in fact, they've made it stronger. Why should we trust what he says now? Its motivated by the same paranoia as was what he said back then?
(3) He's incredibly fucking dumb. Well, if he's not (2) a lying bastard, he's (3) incredibly fucking dumb. If he sincerely believed that video's would ruin his industry, he's obviously fucking dumb. The past 20 years have proven that. So, why should we value the paranoid predictions of a fucking idiot? He's sort of like those religious idiots who were claiming apocalypse was coming at the millenium, 2000. Then it didn't come. So they said, "oh wait, the millenium's really 2001 because there was no year 0". Well, apocalypse didn't come then either. Now, they're backpeddling. See the parallels between them and Valentini? He predicted doom once, and it didn't come. He's predicted and predicting doom now, and it still isn't coming.
(4) & (5): He's an incredibly short-sighted man, and we shouldn't trust his paranoid prophecies any more now than should we have back them. These points follow as obvious consequences of the previous points.
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
Jack Valenti FUD Prophet extraordinaire.
How sad is this, you make a prediction in an argument before the SUPREME COURT, and then KNOWING you were wrong, you continue to make even grander and more fanciful FUD predictions.
Shouldnt he be ashamed or depressed for being wrong? Hoiw does he sleep at night?
MPAA should fire him for being a moron, how on earth do guys like this have ANY credibility.
When will we start printing up t-shirts and putting up websites highlighting his quotes in BOLD. I wish he would get confronted with his quotes at every public forum and press conference he has.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :
Hacker \Hack"er\, n.
One who, or that which, hacks. Specifically: A cutting instrument for making notches; esp., one used for notching pine trees in collecting turpentine; a hack.
I wonder if they got pissed when somebody took their word
Free Mac Mini
Dear Pathetic Hypocrites,
Thanks for seeing Star Wars Episode II. Now you see how we're using your money!
Sincerely,
Jack Valenti
Businesses are run by MBAs, people who went through business administration schools, not technical schools. There may be exceptions, of course, but most of those people do not understand technology development. The trend today in business administration seems to be that a company can be run by managers who outsource technology.
I'm trying to counter that attitude where I work with the following argument: suppose two competitors outsource technology from the same vendor. The only competition between the two will be who lowers profit margins further down. On the other hand, if a company develops its own technology, it may be able to raise profits and corner the market at the same time. I don't know why, MBAs don't seem to be able to follow my reasoning very well...
Before you reply to this story to complain about the MPAA, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Did I stand in line waiting to buy tickets for Episiode 2?
2. Did I see Episode 2 more than once?
3. How about Spiderman?
4. Lord of The Rings?
5. Blade 2?
6. In other words, do I blindly consume MPAA products and then turn around and complain about Jack Valenti having too much power and money?
If the answer to any of these is YES, then don't bother spewing any of your hypocritical drivel.
From Mr. Valenti's testimony:
"The single centralizing principle on which this whole rostrum rests is this: If you cannot own, if what you own cannot be protected, you don't own anything and that goes for Clint Eastwood or the most obscure person in this industry or anybody in any industry. If what you own cannot be protected, you own nothing."
I can't help interpreting Mr. Valenti's comments from my perspective: if I can't protect what I have bought, I own nothing. If you still control what you have sold me, I have been ripped off.
Okay, I'll play the devil's advocate and argue with the "fact."
According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "piracy" has the following definition (emphasis mine):
But Mr. Valenti did bring up that there is a high risk factor in the fact that 8 out of 10 films might not make their money back and get out of the red in the first period of release, which is the theatrical division.
Really, I wonder how many movies have since been able to make that money back thought video releases? I wonder just how many copies of Harry Poter have been sold in the last three days?
Another absolutely great quetion from one of the panel members:
Mr. RAILSBACK. I recognize that audio may, by reason of the very large number of sets, have less of a problem as far as proving prospective damage. But I am aware, again, that the district court really made a point that your industry had not been able to show any damage at all at that time. I think there were something like 3 million at that time.
Hmmm, that sounds strangely familiar. I guess those who don't study history are doomed to be asaulted with the same bullshit. Thanks Cryptome.
You mean, like Errol Flynn?
(Of "In like Flynn" fame)
Even though he didn't know it.
Mr. VALENTI:
If what you own cannot be protected, you own nothing.
You can't protect it, so you don't own it. Shut up and quit bothering everybody.
How many times must a
Jack Valentini and the MPAA
Cry wolf,
Before we listen no more
And how many more
Billions must he make
before we believe him no more
Seriously, how many times does this paranoid schizophrenic have yell, "the bogeyman, video's or peer-to-peers, coming to steal all the money I worked so hard to steal from consumers" before we ignore him?
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
Nothing is free. I hope the technology to watermark and protect our copyright will be available for the general public. In which case I will make sure that the MPAA and what not are not using my stuff. What works for the wolf should work for the goose.
I can well imagine the uproar in society if the power to protect the copyright at the general public level would be. I suggest a GNU program to do this would be great.
sri
It would be easier, and less painful, to stand in line and buy a ticket at the theater, Frank said.
``The fact that people are doing this, despite how challenging and frustrating it is, really does indicate there's a whole lot of demand,'' Frank said. ``We hope this will encourage Hollywood not only to try to take combative measures to shut it down, which is certainly a worthwhile pursuit of theirs, but to try to address demand by accelerating their licensing of content for online distribution.''"
Thank you Dawn... you did a great job of making Valenti look like an ass, while pretending to be defending his assine statements! Way to go!
Although the paranoia over the vcr proved to be unfounded, if people have the ability to download movies for free off the internet at DVD quality in a reasonable amount of time (say 1 hr or less), people will stop renting movies from blockbuster. Therefore, there is legitimate concern over internet piracy of movies, which will become as popular as downloading mp3s are now when internet bandwidth improves. Although mp3s haven't hurt the music industry, movie piracy will hurt the movie industry. This is because most people only want to see a movie once. To they'll simply steal it off the internet if the option exists rather than renting it. With music however, it's more difficult to download an entire album, so people still buy cds. Also, most people don't have their computers linked to their entertainment systems, which is keeping traditional media alive.
Ok, I know I'm late to the party, but I just have to get this out, if for no other reason then to preserve this in a /. post for my own personal reference and amusement:
...
From the testimony of Jack Valenti:
(Jack addressing "Mr. Chairman and ladies and gentlemen of the committee." I am going to stand, if you don't mind, Mr. Chairman, cause I have what is known as "visual aids."
Jackass. I think Mr. Chairman and ladies and gentlemen of the committee know what a fucking visual aid is.
I am merely coming to start off by talking about the American film and television industry, not as an economic enterprise, but as a great national asset to this country, to the U.S. Treasury and the strength of the American dollar. And I am not just talking on behalf of people whose names are household words, like Clint Eastwood and some of his small band of peers.
No comment.
... But now we are facing a very new and a very troubling assault on our fiscal security
Nice contradiction there.
Now, these machines are advertised for one purpose in life. Their only single mission, their primary mission is to copy coyrighted material that belongs to other people.
(Johannas Valenti, owner of the Townsville horse and buggy dealer, 1912:) "The only reason the sell these cars is for one reason: to put me out of business. See, here on the window sticker: 'Get there faster than a horse and buggy.' I rest my case your honor."
Now, again, citing the fact that 100 percent of these machines are made in Japan and 85 percent of all of the blank tapes are made in Japan, and I say that, Mr. Chairman, because I. have to keep coming back to this trade asset because if the Congress doesn't act, then what we are going to be doing is exporting our jobs out of this country to another country, beyond the real of our own shore.
My grandmother heard similar things in Nazi Germany.
Now, let me tell you something about how this business works. My God, Clint Eastwood and Terry Semple, who is the head of Warner Bros., who is in this room, can speak to this with for more accuracy and understanding than I, but I think it is important to a brief summary.
I'll review God's testimony later. Oh, and what's with this obsession with Clint?
The permission of the copyright owner is required for the use of their programs in all markets. Now, I those markets include theaters, cable, pay cable, pay television, prerecorded cassettes, network television, syndicated television, video discs. Every one of those markets is going to be competing for Mr. Eastwood's new film "Firefox." They are going to license that film at a negotiated price. (bolding mine)
I LOVED Firefox, especially when they blew them damn copyright infringing commies right out of the frickin sky!
blah blah blah this is boring. Time to eat. Bye
_______
2B1ASK1
In the true spirit of useless analogies (maybe JV writes some of them on the SAT), let's finish it up for modern times.
Surely, if the above is true, then DeCSS are the equivalent to Osama Bin Laden. As is the internet to Adolf Hitler.
Oops, Godwin's law. I concede. You're right, Jack.
I can explanate how to administrate your network. You must configurate and segmentate it, so it can computate.
Basically, unless you are talking about a premium network, most of your money is going to the cable companies, not the content producers. The content producers make their money mostly off of advertising.
"In his current role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of America, Valenti has presided over a world wide sea change in the industry. New magical technology, the rise of importance of international markets, the tyranny of piracy have radically changed the landscape of the American film and television industry."
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". - Arthur C. Clarke
Main Entry: tyranny
Pronunciation: 'tir- especially : oppressive power exerted by government
2 a : a government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler; especially : one characteristic of an ancient Greek city-state b : the office, authority, and administration of a tyrant
3 : a rigorous condition imposed by some outside agency or force
4 : a tyrannical act
Aren't MPAA members making a lot of money on VHS tapes? ;)
If you make digital copying illegal, then someone should sue to make VCR illegal too, using the same argument.
Make them shoot themselves in the foot.
Oh boo hoo.
The player piano rolls are stealing our sheet music business.
Oh Boo hoo.
The home developper kit must be outlawed since anybody who can expose a film and handle vinegar can steal our movies.
Oh Boo hoo.
TV is stealing business from the drive ins.
Oh Boo hoo.
VCRs are stealing out TV programs.
Jack. KMFA!
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
That will insure that the accountants running the broadcast media eventually fuck themselves.
...
After all... Reruns of "My Mother the Car" are all gravy aren't they?
And who needs anything else as filler between the commercials?
Some soulless, humourless scum sucking, unimaginative accountants proceed to do the math, eliminate unnecessary expense like content production, reproduction and then
And then the artists are forced to find other distribution channels and income models.
And then the content producers die of cash starvation.
And then the broadcast media die of cash starvation and then...
Then the xxAAs and their leadership can be taken to a small field in central Jersey and introduced to the end of high-powered weapons without the stocks.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Now, there's copying and pasting text, which anyone can do, and then there's
:)
http://www.cafepress.com/jackvalenti
...which still most anyone can do, if they know how to use Photoshop, it's just a little fancier
The man said to buy from the other guy, so... store's open, if anyone's interested. And if you want a shirt with the graphics placed in a different orders, let me know. E-mail link is on the page.
Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
Putz. Go play with your dollies.
Any sufficiently well-organized Government is indistinguishable from bullshit.
40% of your cable bill (and thats even for Basic) goes to pay the content producers - ESPN is generally carried at a loss for example. Cable is, in general, a schlock industry - they have the crappiest compentry - but then, thats why they make so much money.
the trout
The use of the remote has taught me that we channel hop because these squat all worth watching.
When I found myself up in the middle of the night, hopping over one rerun after one infomarcial after one home shopping club after one movie that should have been confined to the same grave as the actors after some insipid jiggle TV ad vehicle I threw the set out. (Actually, we moved and it didn't get on the truck.)
I read, write, do interesting shit, talk with my wife and my ex-wife, have a drink, play with my computer. I have a life again.
Lenin said "Religion is the opiate of the masses."
Well God is dead, (the portrait painted by the media is that priests are pedophiles, nuns are lesbians, and Moslems are wild-eyed fanatics,) and television with its high-bandwidth eyeball-capturing moving image is the new opiate of the masses.
The really fucked up masses take opiates and then watch TV.
I traded in my TV for a life.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
if smoking some opium and watching aquateen hungerforce is bad, i dont want to be good.
So we all know Val is a fascist. But we've always known that. What do we do now? Do we do anything? Will any of you do anything?
I doubt it.
"No use-value ever exists without an exchange-value" - note that this condition is the defining one for capitalist production-relations. Needless to say, those who would seek to liberate themselves from the Jack Valentis of the world would serve themselves well to see to the liberation of the use-value from the exchange-value.
Ok. So if not watching the commercial when you're supposed to is stealing from them, and the commercial's only supposed to be watched once, because it's only supposed to be aired once, does that mean that they owe somebody who watches a commercial over and over again extra money?
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
I see.
Taking drugs and watching tv == bad
Drinking and playing around with your computer == having a live.
I'm having a problem seeing the distinction here.
Argh, I meant "life" of course.
Stupid not hitting the preview button first...
'it is like tracings on dry leaves in the wind'
Poetry. Pure poetry.
They really would be happy if nobody had computers at all, wouldn't they?
They make every effort to control computers and to censor my free expression as a programmer but they bitch and moan if someone suggests censorship of a movie, song, painting or sculpture. Just because I do my art with 1s and 0s doesn't make it any less art and certainly doesn't entitle them to suppress it.
What is the difference between source code that demonstrates how to copy a dvd and a movie that demonstrates how to kill, how to prepare illegal drugs, how to rob a bank, how to enter the country illegally, or any number of other crimes?
Coding Blog
At one point Valenti was explaining that because of VCR's there would less content offered to the public, and that the laws he wants are therefore in the public intrest of encouraging more content creation... (sound familiar? Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act)
VALENTI: you would have a subtraction in what the public has to offer -- I mean, what the public is offered.
It sounds to me like all he's got in mind is how much he can rake in from the public -- I mean how much the public offers him.
P.S.
Is there a transcript of Valenti's more recent senate hearings?
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
You're neglecting to address the point of the argument here
You're right, I was. The argument was actually a good one. I was merely trying to address the constant assertion that "piracy" has nothing to do with "copyright violation."
(BTW, "catachresis" was a new word for me, I like it...it's perfect for this argument.)
Also: Not all free TV is ad-supported. So enjoy PBS while you can, before they decide to outlaw it.
the STUDIOS sell the tapes.
jesus christ.