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Valenti to Step Down; Tauzin May Head MPAA
The Importance of writes "The New York Post is reporting that Jack Valenti is stepping down as head of the MPAA, probably by the end of the year. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R - LA) will be taking over. After 37 years as head of the MPAA, at least Valenti is going out on a high note, with most of Hollywood ticked off at him for the screener ban. bIPlog comments on Valenti's apparent agelessness." The Post article quotes Tauzin's office as denying that such an offer has even been made, but acknowledging that one might be in the works.
Note to all slashdot users: Update your etc/hate files with the new name
Maybe the RIAA made him a better offer.
Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com
I, for one, welcome our new media overlord.
With the entertainment industry firmly entwined with the political structure, what can possible go wrong?
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
I could have egg on my face in a couple weeks
:-)
Sounds like an open invitation to me!
from the Entertainment industry.
In 2004, (so far) 10,400 dollars.
In 2002 He took just over 99,000 dollars
Looks to me like he's working for them already...or more accurately has been bought.
Wait .. everything we know about vampires is from Hollywood movies .. we are so screwed!
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
He was my favorite Freakazoid guest-star and thats how I'll always remeber him. "Just look at my cheeks."
If you're not familiar with Tauzin, just check out his top contributors. Which industry gave more to his 2000 campaign than any other? "TV/Movies/Music." Your hopes are dashed, I'm afraid.
:)
BTW, is it just me or does every story submitted by "The Importance of" wind up on the front page
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
There is an article on him here.
Looks promising!:
"The defining difference between Billy Tauzin and [former chairman] Tom Bliley is a preference for change vs. a preference for the status quo," says Jeffrey Eisenach
He offers legislation to allow the MPAA and RIAA to do DDoS attacks on filesharing computers, and that Republican Bastard(tm) Tauzin gets the nice high-paying gig.
New faces, same crap as before. Next?
If he's working for them, he's not giving them much time on your methodology given:
1 Health Professionals $89,500
2 Electric Utilities $59,283
3 Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $39,000
4 Oil & Gas $22,530
5 Retail Sales $19,500
6 Telecom Services & Equipment $13,500
7 Securities & Investment $11,500
8 TV/Movies/Music $10,500
His funding bias has shifted from TV//Movies/Music in 2000 far in favour to utilities/health/pharma (in 2002 also)... which is interesting.
--
FreeNET user? Comfortable with the adverse selection?
Billy Tauzin is ALREADY a lobbyist shill for big media and telecom. Moving him from Congress to MPAA would mean that 1: he doesn't get to legislate (at least not directly) any more, and 2: he doesn't get paid by my taxes any more.
p.s. Reason #3 to hate Congressman Tauzin: sponsored "anti-spam" legislation that was ghost-written by the DMA.
Tauzin proposed a bill requiring all TV broadcasters to switch to 100% digital signals with copy protection, just over a year ago.
In July 2002, Billy and his friend Fritz Disney Hollings urged the FCC commissioner to "mandate the implementation of the Broadcast Flag under FCC rules" - which according to a story here just days ago is pretty much a done deal.
The financial support (on the books) may have quit in 2000, but he's still been busy trying to get digital TV, broadcast flags, and copy protection forced down consumers'^W our throats. Looks like the MPAA is finally rewarding him for his efforts...
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
Billy Tauzin has been securely in the hands of the MPAA for years now, so this doesn't come as a huge surprise. At least now he won't be around to pass terrible bills any longer!
For those that don't remember, the link above is referring to the Tauzin-Dingell bill, which was the infamous bill to allow companies like Verizon to prevent sharing their lines with other companies offering DSL, like Covad, etc.
I'm more than happy to see Billy Tauzin leave as a congressman, but I have no doubts that the tactics currently employed by the MPAA won't change with Valenti leaving.
I do not follow US politic very much, but isn't there a conflict of interrest in between a politcian with an official function, and being the ehad of a firm, *and* proposing law which directly impact your firm ? If he become head of MPAA should not he give up every official place or position he might have ?
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
One reign of terror is coming to an end, and a new one is about to begin.
-Seriv
But people keep saying he won't be able to pass any more nasty laws. Where does it say he's stepping down from his seat in Washington? Looks like a blatant coflict of interest to me.
I visited Tauzin's official House of Representatives website, at http://www.house.gov/tauzin/. At the bottom is a Search button, with a select list to choose how many search results you want to receive. I decided to search for "MPAA" and see if he'd mentioned them in any of his recent press releases.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any results. Not because he's trying to hide anything, but because there's nowhere to enter a search term! The "Search" button is sitting there with no way to enter what you're searching for. Brilliant, if only Google had come up with this idea!
Thank you, Rep. Tauzin, for demonstrating your vast knowledge of the digital world. You should fit right in at the MPAA.
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
Same old piss in a different bottle...
T&K.
Political language
Time for the strangler to kick off his shoes and spend the weekend working through the zero day movies he got this week.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
"Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss"
Ever heard of Tauzin-Dingell? He co-sponsored that bill, one that would allow the Bells to provide broadband over their networks in a monopoly-like fashion.
He favors DRM and other similar schemes.
His voting record on issues pertaining to the revocation of our rights is troubling - ACLU voting guide
He used to be a Democrat, then he switched to the Republican party.
I've seen the guy on C-SPAN, CNN, FAUX, etc. for years. Other than his attempts to act as if he knows what's going on in the "tech" world he is just another sleazy politician. The same garbage debate tactics and fallacies that almost all of his kind use.
Anti-social? My code is just platform-specific.
The Tauzin-Dingell Telecom Bill: Untangling the Confusion
This is not what we need.
A governmental employee, responsible for legislation heading up a company that is bent on reducing peoples rights thru laws and law-suits.
There must be something to prevent this from taking place, from a legal angle, as it's a conflict of interest, with potential for fraud.
Even if he resigns his political position, he still has great lobbying power.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Like him or not, the MPAA is behind a lot of your favourite movies. Don't hate the man or the group, hate their antiquated. protectionist distribution system.
Trolling is a art,
This is only to get us looking the other direction. At least Valenti had the virtue of not being a NeoCon Repug but Tauzin is an industry friend and one of Bu$h's confidants. Watch the next few months for DVD rental profiling and geographic analysis of "pirated" films as a pretense for arrests under the DMCA.
... read "Tarzan" and think, "wow that's a great idea!" =)
You haven't been taking your medication, have you?
Billy Tauzin had his voice in the house but if the over-lord of media becomes Orin Hatch, the internet as a media medium is in big trouble. Hatch has more media fingers in his pockets than anybody and he also things he's a music artist. We may find we're out of the pan and into the fire with this. Tauzin and Hatch making deals is just too scary of a thought.
Banjo - The more I know about Windoze, the more I love *nix
Those are pretty minor contributions so far. Look, let's be realistic about the way it works. If you have some agenda to make a politician look like a crook, sure you'll say he's been bought. But that isn't true, and let's be fair (it will help your cause more, too).
If a tech-friendly candidate (say, Sonny Perdue of Georgia, who just withdrew GA DMV records from MATRIX) was running for office, and you contributed to him, have you 'bought' him? No, you've donated to help a candidate win who you know will help you. The same way that your donation to EFF will help defend fair use exemptions in copyright law. You're not buying their opinion, you're helping them because you two are trying to accomplish the same thing.
This has a practical implication, too. If we pretend to ourselves that MPAA friendly leaders like Sen Feinstein and Rep Tauzin are only 'doing it for the money', it might make us feel better, but won't be helpful. There are genuine principles being held by the IP holders.
Unless we can understand and address their concerns, and show how other principles override, we're in a shouting match. One we won't win. The people who vote based on this issue, for the most part, are people whose jobs are at stake. There are far more IP consumers than producers, but for consumers, it's not a compelling, overriding issue the way national security or the economy is.
His move to head the MPAA would just be making it official.
Proletariat of the world, unite to kill corrupt politicians
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
It is official. This move just makes it public and allows them to put their money directly into his pocket.
Fight Spammers!
...is the episode of Frekazoid during which he (with his cheeks) explains the motion picture rating system. It also happens to be a 2-parter, the Freakazoid origin story, called "The Chip".
Interestingly, Jack Valenti actually voiced himself in these episodes, so at that time (1995) he apparently still had a sense of humor.
Think of all those quirky eccentric people studying journalism in college. They're all grown up and controlling the proles now.
Remember, he who has the gold makes the rules. Determining the politics of a news organization by studying the journalists is like determining the politics of General Motors by studying the United Auto Workers.
It's good that he's retiring. He hasn't been looking so good recently.
It is interesting that when you look at the full list of numbers, there are tons of industries that have payed him even more (the oil industry? *gasp* not in louisiana-- never! :)). True, it is kind of worrying that anyone that accepts any outside money is put in charge of anything, but there are two things to consider about that: a) no one accepts funding from any industry, only the rich can afford to run for office, b) How many other people have been payed off by the entertainment industry? If these are somewhat typical contributions on the part of the MPAA, then we might have lost the game...
It isn't like it is the MPAA's job to pick someone that will fairly consider both sides of the issue.
====
Crudely Drawn Games
On the other hand, I suppose the MPAA wouldn't do this if they thought there was any chance that it would make waves with their Democrat allies.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
Welp, I grew a smile on my face when I read the headline. Wish I had something insightful to say, but I don't. The guy was heavily opinionated, and badly informed. He doesn't know that his customers aren't all thieves awaiting opportunity. He thinks they can't compete with free even though there are many MANY successful businesses out there doing just that, Starbucks to name one, Aquafina to name another. He once likened backing up a DVD to demanding a new lawn mower after wrecking the first. He didn't understand the concept that a backup copy costs the original producer of the content absolutely 0. I remember when cornered about the use of encryption, he said something to the effect of "nobody'd be against the oil companies putting a new lock on their tanks if everybody had a copy of the key." Guess he doesn't realize that despite the fact that people steal gas from a gas station, it hasn't been enough to make gas stations 'secure' with guard arms and spikes in the ground. Oh, and the absolute most amusing thing, was his take on VCRs. Yep, those machines would turn everybody into a pirate.
So yes, I'm glad he's gone. He's a figurehead for the industry with a loud voice, but little reason to back it up. Assuming that his replacement isn't a clone exactly 1/8th his size, I'm hoping we're in for better times ahead. I, for one, would like to be treated like a paying customer and not a thief in training.
"Derp de derp."
"He favors DRM and other similar schemes."
Man, that read just like those stupid commercials they show on TV whenever there's an election.
"He drinks the blood of babies..."
"Derp de derp."
"Like him or not, the MPAA is behind a lot of your favourite movies. Don't hate the man or the group..."
We all would like Hollywood to expand into the internet age. They're fighting it kicking and screaming. Valenti was particularly good at applying reason (easily disputable reason, mind you) to a situation that makes them sound like they're in the right. If Valenti had been able to make his points in the past, we wouldn't have VCRs today.
People have plenty of reason not to like him. Yes the MPAA makes movies we like, but that makes it all the more painful. The internet is a WONDERFUL media for movies and everybody's knee-jerk afraid that we're all going to become thieves the moment it is used.
You're right that they have an antiquated protectionist distro system, but that isn't all there is to it.
"Derp de derp."
he (family friend) said this rumor has been floating around the hill for months. So, nothing has actually occurred here, but it does sound like Billy is the man on deck for when Valenti steps down.
This isn't good news for us, Tauzin's political experience is a couple of generations more recent.
This would be a real good time to have a real geek Political Action Committee running on our behalf.
Tech Public Policy stuff
I was sitting in my bathtub and the phone rang. It was a movie survey... they asked about close to 20 different films now out or soon to be released, to gauge my interest, and my friends', etc.
For every movie they asked about my likelyhood of seeing in a theater, I told them "I've already seen it - I downloaded it off the internet." Even for (especially for) the ones that haven't even hit theaters yet.
It was kind of funny after all of this when the guy got to the internet question and asked if I had net access. :P
This space available.
They also finace them... without studio money very few big movies would get made... it's not like peter jackson has the 300 million dollars to do LOTR by himself... very few people are George Lucas.
Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
Well at least he's an honest policitian. He stays bought.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Now he will *officially* be on the MPAA's payroll. Merely taking bribes doesn't qualify you for the retirement plan.