Hollywood vs. The Rest of Us
Some interesting analogies about Hollywood's war on its customers at satn.org (Frankston, Reed, and Friends).
I've already suggested, in comments to the Senate Judiciary Committee about BPDG, that the Hollings bill(s) and BPDG should be renamed "The Buggy Whip Manufacturers' Protection Act of 2002." But the slide-rule analogy is more contemporary. The entertainment industry should stop whining and buying protection, and start working to take advantage of the technologies they see as threatening to instead bring new, creative forms of entertainment. They survived--and thrived on--the advent of VCRs. They can do it again, if they'll provide something consumers find worth paying for.
And yes, I've written to my members of Congress, with varying effect:
- Senator Dianne Feinstein is clueless and dangerous; she's a co-sponsor of Hollings' CBDTPA bill, so she's clearly enamored of the entertainment industry hype. Feinstein, when she does respond to constituents' messages, sends boilerplate "glad to hear from you here's what I'm doing in spite of your wishes" letters. I will vote against her next chance I get.
- Senator Barbara Boxer is a quandary: she sits on Hollings' Senate Commerce Committee, but I have yet to receive a response to any of my mail. You would think a member of that committee would let her thoughts be known, but I sure haven't seen or heard anything.
- Congressman Sam Farr seems to get it. He's voted on the correct side of privacy issues, opposed blanket anti-terrorism legislation, and seems to comprehend what the issues are. Too bad he's not in the Senate--yet.
4:05:51 PM 
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