FC: NYT oped on Hollywood's plan: "It'll help Silicon Valley grow up"

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Fri May 24 2002 - 22:30:45 PDT

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    Previous Politech message:
    
    "Hollywood wants to plug 'analog hole,' regulate A-D converters"
    http://www.politechbot.com/p-03578.html
    
    Cypress CEO TJ Rodgers' do-not-normalize-relations view:
    http://www.cato.org/cgi-bin/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=silvalley.html&cart_id=
    
    ---
    
    Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 11:51:14 -0400
    To: declanat_private, politechat_private
    From: Marc Rotenberg <rotenbergat_private>
    Subject: Re: FC: Hollywood wants to plug "analog hole," regulate A-D converters
    
    The rejoinder (and timely) . . .
    
    
    
    http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/24/opinion/24TRIS.html
    
    May 24, 2002
    
    NOTES FROM SAN JOSE
    
    Silicon Valley Grows Up
    
    By CLAIRE TRISTRAM
    
      * * *
    
    The same broken dialogue is now repeating itself between Silicon
    Valley and Hollywood. Hollywood went to Congress to block any sale
    of DVD's without legislatively mandated copy protection. It sued to
    block the sale of MP3 players and digital VCR's because these
    devices make it easy to make fast, durable, portable copies of music
    or movies.
    
    Silicon Valley responds - in that rational, superior way
    technologists sometimes have - that of course digital technology
    makes possible better reproductions that last longer than their
    analog counterparts. Hollywood, valley executives say, doesn't
    understand the upside potential and is stifling innovation. Besides,
    these guys said the same thing about the VCR, and in 2001 consumers
    spent more than twice as much on videos as they did at the box
    office.
    
      * * *
    
    Hollywood's latest bid for protection from digital theft is called
    the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act,
    sponsored by Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, chairman of the
    Senate Commerce Committee. At its heart, the legislation aims to
    force Silicon Valley and Hollywood to work together to come up with
    a way to protect copyrighted digital material; if they don't, the
    government will step in. Technologists see any "solution" as
    impossible, or at least fleeting, since no software has yet been
    written that can completely prevent piracy.
    
    But simply stating "you just don't understand, Senator" - even if it
    is a perfectly reasonable response - isn't going to work in this
    latest battle, as Silicon Valley is learning. Hollywood does a far
    better job than the valley of speaking in one voice on Capitol Hill.
    Painfully, if not surprisingly, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, former mayor
    of San Francisco, is a co-sponsor of the Hollings bill; Hollywood
    has contributed roughly twice as much money to her as Silicon Valley
    has.
    
      * * *
    
    In some ways, this populist activism is curious for an industry that
    has increasingly served the needs of business rather than those of
    consumers. But maybe that's the best thing about this fight. It has
    galvanized this place as nothing has for at least a couple of years.
    It reminds the industry of its relevance. And maybe, just maybe, by
    exposing its immaturity - after all, the technology industry can no
    longer act like a brilliant but misunderstood child - this debate
    will help Silicon Valley grow up.
    
    Claire Tristram writes frequently about technology and business in
    Silicon Valley.
    
    
    
    
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