How To Address A Visit from MPAA Senior VP Rich Taylor?

tedswiss writes "Fate has dropped a unique opportunity upon my lap: I teach at a moderately small independent school who has as one of its alums Richard Taylor. Mr. Taylor is both speaking at our start-of-year festivities and being honored with this year's "Distinguished Alum Award." Having followed and been disgusted by the MPAA's corporate practices regarding DRM and government lobbying in the past (Anyone remember DeCSS?), I would love to make his visit a chance to truly educate our student body, not just indoctrinate them. The school administration is sympathetic to my plight, but I want to present them with more than just my complaints. How would you best make use of this opportunity if you found yourself in my shoes?"

Comments

Hmmm.

[MightyMartian]

Ask him if the MPAA uses the same "accounting" for determining losses due to piracy which its members so often use when declaring that movies rolling in cash in fact lost money.

Re:Hmmm.

[MrSteveSD]

Very good point. For example, you may remember a popular Sci-Fi Series called Babylon 5. J. Michael Straczynski absolutely killed himself making it, writing entire seasons by himself. It was a very successful show and has made a huge amount of money in DVD sales. Yet Warner Bros have done some amazing Hollywood accounting with it and have managed to make it all look in debt, so no-one gets a dime.

So you could ask, "Piracy may effect the money made by hard working writers and actors, but do you think your members should perhaps set an example by not stealing from them through Hollywood Accounting trickery?"

Teamwork

[Raindance]

I suppose it depends on the opportunities and contexts you have access to (what classes you teach, whether you can hold a seminar or discussion panel before/after his address, etc). But my primary advice would be:

Be respectful. Think teamwork. Don't try to rain on the parade the college is throwing for him. Nobody will thank you for that. Not that you seem to be leaning that way, but it bears mentioning on Slashdot.

Consider sitting down with Mr. Taylor privately (asap, if it'll be in addition to other things). The article you linked said he seems willing to take outside concerns seriously. It sure seems that he could be a great resource in 1. getting the MPAA to take consumer/citizen concerns more seriously, and 2. helping educate the student body about what's at stake here (on both sides).

Perhaps you could set up a panel on intellectual property/DRM while he's in town (you, him, maybe some other relevant folks), and invite the student body. Man, I'd love to go to that.

Re:Teamwork

[FuzzyDaddy]

I disagree. I think this is a good opportunity to make a point. No, the MPAA isn't going to change, but you're at a school, and educating the students by getting them to think about things they might not otherwise is a good thing to do.

I don't have specific ideas about what to do, but I have some advice on what NOT to do. Don't attempt to harass, trap, or otherwise embarass this guy. Be civil. Your goal here is to get people thinking, not to attack this particular person. Likewise, your goal isn't to express your anger or disgust - it's to educate the student body about the very real and sometimes subtle issues. Handouts? Teach-ins? Big signs and pamphlets? Parody films? It depends on your target audience, venue, etc.

But do something!

Re:Teamwork

[poopdeville]

You need to be very careful when you approach events like these. For example, David Horowitz was invited to Reed College to participate in a "discussion" (read: debate) his "Academic Bill of Rights". See: http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/archive/ 2006/August2006/ReedCollegeSteinbergerDebate082806 .htm. (Yes, TL;DR, I know. But the Ask Slashdotter might want to check it out)

Accusations of bad faith were flying all around. The consensus after the fact was that there was a miscommunication with David Horowitz. The event was billed as a debate, but he thought he could wing it and showed up essentially unprepared. Steinberger was very prepared.

The point being, accusations of bad faith were launched at an event where both speakers should have been prepared to debate. It would only be worse to try to seriously debate someone who isn't prepared.

Just like home!

[Anonymous Coward]

File a whole bunch of baseless lawsuits at him as soon as he walks in. He'll feel right at home!

Demonstrate ...

[joeyspqr]

how easy and rewarding it is play one his client's movies using software approved by his organization ... say, an HD movie on a Vista laptop? be sure to point out how the enhanced experience will motivate customers to pour bushels of cash on them.

Re:Don't be a jerk

[darkhitman]

Somebody more powerful, yes, but not necessarily someone more intelligent.

Why do they make pirated products more attractive?

[_xeno_]

What I've always wondered about companies that require DRM on their products is simply this: why do they insist on making their paying customers suffer, which those that don't bother supporting the content creators get a more convenient product?

With movies, the pirated version usually jumps straight to the movie without going through previews or FBI warnings. It doesn't include slow, time-wasting menus. It doesn't force you to skip by commercials for other movies. It just gets you to the product and lets you view it with minimum hassle.

As an added bonus, the pirated version doesn't prevent me from transcoding to a format my iPod can support or prevent me from storing it on my computer and streaming it via my TiVo. If I ever get an XBox360 or a PS3, I can stream them to that too.

With a DRM-encumbered movie, I can't do any of that.

Why do they insist on giving their paying customers a product that's simply worse than the pirated version? Why do they think we'll put up with it?

Let the students handle it.

[Spy der Mann]

1. A few days *before* his visit, open a debate in your classroom about filesharing, DMCA, DRM, piracy and the music and film industries' business models. Make your students do a research paper on it for homework (the homework will be BEFORE the class debate), and give the homework a +1 point over the final exam.

Perhaps you can research a little and give some pointers (links) that they can use for the research i.e. hackers' rants, slashdot posts, the 09 F9 scandal, and so on.

2. Invite the students to ask any questions they had when the MPAA Senior comes.
(I'm sure that after being educated with the debate, they'll ask questions on playing movies on Linux machines, DMCA, the broken DRM security model and so on).

3. Buy some popcorn and enjoy the fun. Trust me, It will get more embarrassing than Bill Gates' BSOD on the Win98 presentation. ;-)

Re:Don't be a jerk.

[langelgjm]

You are not in the business of making or financing motion pictures or record albums, so you have no real stake in the argument.

I have to disagree here. The legislation that is produced on behalf of MPAA and similar lobbying has real effects on many, many more people than just those who make or finance movies or music. It's one thing for an industry group to try and promote their own interests; it's something completely different when they do it at the expense of the public.

Certainly I agree with the necessity of showing respect, but on the other hand, the MPAA's representatives would do well to show some respect and attention to these students, as well - they are the generation that is growing up with torrents while Blockbuster slowly disappears. Their attitudes towards media consumption are shaping and will continue to shape the industry, whether the MPAA likes it or not.

With such a visit

[Alien54]

from someone as illustrious as this ...

It is well worth it to propose a week long series of special classes about the man, the organization, and the controversies. This allows plenty of time for a balanced presentation from all of the viewpoints. And of course, you can encourage students to put on their on presentations and reports, etc. This should be done in advance of the visit, so that when there is a question and answer period with the celebrity, you can rest well assured that students will ask well informed questions.

Remember that Copyright is included (under Article 27) in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (some clever human rights PSAs here)

Article 27.

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

and this provides for other angles and viewpoints that the MPAA might not be actually friendly to, even if they claim to be artist friendly. (Remember Hollywood accounting!) There is also the argument that the corporations are not acting in the best interest of the Artists, but their own personal profit.

finally, the European view on copyright and an artist's rights are significantly different compared to typical american viewpoints.

Re:With such a visit

[Minwee]

Just remember that a man who was the senior vice president for external affairs of the MPAA has probably heard all of your questions before and has a prepared response for each of them. Be prepared to have your questions dismissed without any kind of real answer and quite possibly twisted around into something completely different. Read old interviews with him, watch videos. Try to get an idea of what to expect.

If a professional weasel with his background and in his position lets himself get blind-sided by a couple of University students with an obvious axe to grind then, first off, something is very wrong with the world.

And secondly, if you think that's what really happened, count your fingers. And your toes. And review exactly what was said by whom, and ask yourself if you have any way of proving it.

Ask him if he stole his car.

[kramer]

Interrupt the beginning of the speech. Ask him if he stole his car. When he says no, ignore him and launch into a 5 minute prepared speech about how stealing cars is wrong, and the effects of stolen cars on everyone. Tell him how bad he is for stealing his car, and how he'll be punished when he gets caught. Most importantly, do not let him interrupt you or skip any portion of your speech. When you're finished, ask him how he appreciates being treated to a lecture about being a thief during time that is supposed to be his.

Trust your students

[Garwulf]

I've read through a lot of the ideas on here, and I figure it might be worthwhile to throw some of my own words into the mix.

There are a lot of anarchists on here - they don't like to be called that, but that's what they are. There are a lot of people who wouldn't know copyright law if it hit them in the face, but insist on speaking out as though they're authorities on it. There are people here who are quiet and informed, and quiet and uninformed. There are informed brawlers, soft-spoken lawyers, writers, programmers, and pirates. And, there are a lot of people who would push their own agenda on anything that comes their way, even to the detriment of you and your class.

Trust none of them.

Your students are about to meet somebody who is at the heart of one of the major social issues of our time. Get them reading up on it, make sure they're reading both sides of the issue, and then leave it in their hands. Don't put your trust in Slashdot, or some online forum - if you do that, you're putting it into the hands of a bunch of people who you've probably never met, and who may not even be who they say they are. Put your trust in your students - give them what they need to be informed, and then trust them to understand it (and if they disagree with your conclusions, keep in mind that YOU could be the one who misunderstood something). The most important part of education in the end, the part that ultimately can save you from something terrible, is learning to think critically for yourself and make up your own mind. Let them do that.