Four movie-industry moguls have agreed to answer BBC-reader-suggested questions on the future of digital film.
* Dan Glickman, chairman and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents major Hollywood film studios and is leading the global fight against piracy.
* Lavinia Carey, director general of the British Video Association (BVA), the trade body for the UK video and DVD industry, which has been central to the British anti-piracy campaign.
* Curt Marvis, chief executive of CinemaNow, which is billed as the leading legal movie download service, allowing fans to watch or buy films over the internet.
* John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, which represents US cinemas.
Me, I'd like to know if the MPAA still thinks that VCRs were bad for its business, and if not, if it's willing to officially repudiate Jack Valenti's 1982 statement to Congress where he called VCRs the "Boston Strangler of the American film industry." Changing the name of their new DC headquarters to something other than "The Valenti Building" would be a good start.
I'd also like to know whether they think that since Sony advertised the first generation of VCRs as tools for making libraries of your favorite shows, and since that has never been held to be legal by a US court, should Sony be busted under the Grokster decision, which makes you liable for infringements that you "induce" among your customers? If not, does the MPAA believe that making libraries of movies that are aired on broadcast TV is a fair use?
Finally, I'd like to know if the MPAA agrees with its spokesmen who have defended the practice of prohibiting backups of DVDs by saying, "Well, you can't back up a set of crystal glasses either?" and whether, should the ability to back up a set of crystal glasses ever emerge, should the glassmakers have the right to prohibit it?
(Thanks, Andy!)
