Things that Robert is thinking about that keep him from accomplishing anything.

 
Seeds of Destruction
Saw this article in the Washington Post on video piracy. It seems that studios could avoid the digital download problem by simply not releasing DVDs. They choose to release DVDs because they want to make the extra money, but there's no (or only limited) piracy problems if they control access to the content by only screening it in movie theatres. Some stuff would make it online (e.g., people who DV a movie in the theatre, maybe taping a VHS tape onto a computer and burning it to DVD), but it would be obviously inferior in quality, whereas MP3 has become ubiquitous because its files are not too noticably inferior to the original WAV files. I don't think this is the answer, but when the challenges to the copyright laws make it to the Supreme Court and if I'm on the bench (or a clerk), that's the question I'm asking the MPAA lawyer.
posted by RSaunders at 1:06 PM ⇒