Even though I am a Christian, I can't help but get irate about the ASSHOLES who are directing our government, and our laws...
By ASSHOLES, I mean hollywood.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, appearing as a friend of the court, also sided with the industry, describing DeCSS as a "burglary tool" built for "entering and stealing the property" of the movie studios. Lockyer warned the court in stark terms that California's motion picture, music and technology industries would all suffer grave financial losses if trial courts had to treat computer code as speech when considering legal bids to suppress a program.
I am sorry, but when I watch a DVD on my Linux box that I PURCHASED (the DVD AND the Linux box), I find it disgusting that I am being called a thief, criminal, and a liar by hollywood.
Hollywood (MPAA, DVD-CSS, et al). Please, explain to me how I am causing you harm?! I bought the DVD, I own DVD players too, but by choosing to watch it on my computer, that somehow causes you to lose money?! Am I supposed to pay you each time I watch it on my Linux box - but not in my regular DVD player?!
I guess I am missing something here. DeCSS for me, and 99% of the others out there who REGULARLY USE IT, is used so that we can CHOOSE what we watch OUR LEGALLY PURCHASED movies on.
Why can't hollywood, the courts, and our government figure that out?
...if only the horseless carriage people had lobbyists as powerful as hollywood does these days, we'd still be driving horses...
Because they are part of a big money making scheme that has gone a bit scue-whiff with all the bungled management decisions they have made in the last 10-20 years.
Unfortunately DeCSS *has* been used for illegal purposes, and the limited guidance that these people and their lawyers appear to have had, all points to anyone using this technology to be using illegal software.
Once upon a time, the movie industry was a successful enterprise. Millions upon millions of people would take a trip to the cinema on a Saturday night and there were some great movies to see, including the countless B Movies. Then television happened. Since that time, attendances have dropped and the movie industry has had to seek other resources to fund their projects.
Originally, even up to the early eighties, movie giants had said their films would not be made for retail only rental outlets, for the simple reason it cost a lot to produce a video cassette and they couldn't see the was any mass market. However the music video suddenly took off and movie giants at last saw the potential.
In the last 20 years movie companies, in particular Hollywood movie companies, have made a sizeable proportion of their revenue from merchandise, which now includes Video and DVD sales. They make less films than they did 50+ years ago, and films cost much more (even accounting for inflation) to make. As a consequence *anything* that *might* affect their current revenue is seen as a threat.
Misunderstanding the Internet's potential has meant that rather than be proactive to do something about DeCSS so that people like yourself are not affected, they are being, as per usual for big business, very reactive in trying to close the door. In the short term it might save them millions according to their figures, but if it means the likes of people, such as yourself, buy less DVDs because you can't play them as much, its only going to see a long term down turn in sales. For which they'll blame the Internet.
Its interesting to note that the music industry is blaming the Internet for lack of sales, dispite the lack of investment the industry puts back into nuturing the long term careers of artists, or the large amount of dross that they shell out to the kids. In the UK since the 'House' phenonemon of the mid to late 80s and the rise in the rave culture along with the boy/girl band flavour of the months, the amount of venues up and down the country that have been forced to close has been heartbreaking. Touring bands now have a very limited number of venues they can play, and very often have to resort to playing a half filled NEC Arena. New bands now quite often have make their own way and don't get picked up until they've recorded at least one album or have a fan base that is difficult to ignore. But I digress.
Personally I think that merchandise sales and box office figures are not at as good as they could be, due to the amount of dross we are fed these days. I know there were some really bad movies in the 50s and 60s, but they were funny and have since become cult classics. Todays throwaways are unlikely to be as well remembered in years to come, and only then when you happen to be looking stuff on IMDB.
At the end of the day, companies should learn to adapt to the new technology without sacrificing the quality they produce. The turn out to recent outings for Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, etc shows that good quality movies do pay. Keep 'em coming and you'll soon have people queuing like theres no tomorrow again. If sales weren't being affected DeCSS would be seen as a minor inconvience.
Okay, okay
I really urge you to read Clock of the Long Now , by Stewart Brand. There's one very useful discussion that categorizes society into seven layers of society: "fashion" at the very top, corporations a little lower, and government a little lower still. As you dig deeper, each layer is necessarily more conservative, more entrenched and less willing to change. Fashion is necessarily fast moving and fickle, while government is necessarily slow moving and deliberate. After all, the last thing you want to do is demolish downtown to build a highway that's needed for a movie set.
So what we're witnessing isn't some evil conspiracy, it's just how different elements of society react in the face of change. Yes, it's annoying and frustrating. In the long view, this will all blow over and everyone will figure out how to Do The Right Thing (tm). It'll just take a few years.
Re:Clock of the Long Now
TorgoX on 2003-06-09T14:06:05
So what we're witnessing isn't some evil conspiracy, it's just how different elements of society react in the face of change.
Maybe it's an evil conspiracy AND how different elements of society react in the face of change!Yes, it's annoying and frustrating. In the long view, this will all blow over and everyone will figure out how to Do The Right Thing (tm).
Keynes said: in the long run, everyone dies.
