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Hollywood is Trying to Kill Betamax
Posted on September 13, 2004
Check out this media policy action from Aliza Dichter of the Center for International Media Action:
Take 5 minutes of action TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 to save media technology.
I know you are busy but please consider taking 3 minutes to call Congress on this issue and pass this alert to your lists, friends, memberships, etc— urge them to call, too.
In 1984 movie studios tried to make the VCR illegal. The Supreme Court stopped them.
Now Congress and the US Copyright Office is considering laws that could ban the iPod and the CD-burner, and more. Strangling technology to protect the collapsing business model of the movie and music mega-conglomerates.
This bad policy, terrible for artists, musicians, consumers, tech companies, librarians, teachers, activists, say groups who are sounding the alarm, including EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), Future of Music Coalition, Public Knowledge, DownHill Battle, the New York Times and the consumer technology industry.
The music industry activists at DownhillBattle.org have organized a Call-In Day to Congress, tomorrow, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
READ MORE BELOW
Please call. And Pass It On.
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Artists, Musicians, Consumers
SAVE BETAMAX
The short version: We're organizing a call-in day to Congress on September
14 to oppose new legislation that would undermine the Betamax decision
(INDUCE Act - i.e. relating to inducement of copyright infringement)
Here's why: The Betamax VCR died more than 15 years ago, but the Supreme
Court decision that made the Betamax and all other VCRs legal lived on. In
Sony vs. Universal (known as the Betamax decision) the Court ruled that
because VCRs have legitimate uses, the technology is legal-even if some
people use it to copy movies. Of course, the movie industry was lucky it
lost the case against VCRs, because home video soon became Hollywood's
largest source of revenue. And the freedom to use and develop new
technology that was protected by the Betamax decision set the stage for the
incredible growth in computer technology we've seen in the last few decades.
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Hollywood is Trying to Kill Betamax
The Betamax ruling is the only thing that protects your right to own a VCR,
tape recorder, CD-burner, DVD-burner, iPod, or TiVo. It's that important.
But new legislation that's being pushed through the Senate by lobbyists for
the music and movie industries would override the Betamax decision and
create a huge liability for any business that makes products which can copy
sound or video. This legislation (formerly known as the INDUCE Act) would
essentially give Hollywood veto power over a huge range of new
technologies. And if they get this power, they'll definitely use it: just
as they tried to stomp out the VCR in the 70's and 80's, the music and
movie industries want to force all content to go through their own
restricted channels.
Is Congress Insane?
You might think so at first glance. Voters, technology experts, public
interest groups, and electronics manufacturers all oppose these efforts to
weaken Betamax. So why is it still happening? Because the major record
labels and the movie studios— the same companies that opposed the Betamax
ruling— make huge donations to the re-election campaigns of the Senators
who are sponsoring this legislation. And most members of Congress assume
this is a non-controversial issue, off the radar of most voters. If they
can please their donors without a big fuss, they will. It's bad policy, but
until we start making noise, it's smart politics.
Why We Need a National Call-In Day
We need to make sure Congress hears from the public. There's been plenty of
opposition on the internet to the INDUCE Act and its more recent drafts.
But this general dissatisfaction hasn't quite come together into a real
demonstration of how strongly people feel about protecting the Betamax
decision. At Downhill Battle, we've organized people to send faxes to
Congress before and there's been lots of emails flying around, but
telephone calls take it to the next level. A big, one-day mobilization to
swamp these members of Congress with phone calls could make a huge impact
on the debate. If you care about keeping Betamax intact but haven't felt
compelled to act before, now's the time to get involved. You can sign up on
the top right of this page.
Not Convinced? Don't Take Our Word For It.
If you're ready to get involved, go sign up. If you want some more info on
the Betamax ruling and what's happening in Congress, here are some really
good quotes from filesharing opponents, Mr. Rogers, and Sony's own
Corporate History, all of them in support of the Betamax decision:
The Save Betamax call-in day is organized by Downhill Battle.