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October 14, 2003
Jack Valenti: Enemy of the People
Okay, the whole "enemy of the people" bit is a little over the top, but the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its director, Jack Valenti, run a close second behind the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for actions designed to stomp out every use of intellectual property that doesn't directy line the coffers of big move/recording studios. In Why inspecting a turkey sandwich won't stop movie piracy, film critic Roger Ebert writes about a recent Valenti edict that basically takes independent film out of the running for Academy Awards:
[Valenti] announced that signatories of the Motion Picture Association of America would be forbidden to send out the thousands of advance DVD ''screeners'' that jam the year-end mailboxes of Academy members and critics compiling Best 10 lists.His reason is that screeners have been used by video pirates to make illegal copies of movies. That is true. It is also true that pirates will find a way to steal prints anyway.
The Valenti Decree would cripple the chance of a small independent film getting an Oscar nomination. With dozens of films opening at year end, the academy population lacks the time and energy to attend all those screenings in theaters. The DVDs pile up at home, and when the buzz turns hot on a title, they look at it.
Ebert goes on in the article to provide an excellent alternate solution for Academy screening purposes: "disposable" digital video discs which self destruct after one viewing and are digital watermarked with the name of the Academy member to whom it is distributed.
Posted October 14, 2003 08:04 AM