MIT Student Makes MPAA Leader Look Like A Moron

This interview is great. It shows just how ignorant the people that are passing laws like the DMCA are:

“...TT: Okay, let’s take a different example. Four years ago, you said that people who use Linux, which is about a million to two million people, who want to play DVDs, should get licensed DVD players and that those would be on the market soon.

JV: And we have those now.

TT: But today, you still cannot on the market actually buy a licensed DVD player for Linux.

JV: I didn’t know that

...

TT: So the question is, if I just want to watch a movie--I rent it from Blockbuster--is that bad?

JV: No, that’s not bad.

TT: Then why should it be illegal?

Rich Taylor, MPAA public affairs: It’s not. ... You could put it in a DVD player, you could play it on any computer licensed for it.

JV: There’s lots of machines you can play it on.

TT: None under Linux. There’s no licensed player under Linux.

JV: But you’re trying to set your own standards.

TT: No, you said four years ago that people under Linux should use one of these licensed players that would be available soon. They’re still not available -- it’s been four years.

JV: Well why aren’t they available? I don’t know, because I don’t make Linux machines.

Let me put it in my simple terms. If you take something that doesn’t belong to you, that’s wrong. Number two, if you design your own machine, you can’t fuss at people, because you’re one of just a few. How many Linux users are there?

TT: About two million.

JV: Well, I can’t believe there’s not any -- there must be a reason for... Let me find out about that. You bring up an interesting question -- I don’t know the answer to that... Well, you’re telling me a lot of things I don’t know. “

[1] http://www-tech.mit.edu/V124/N20/ValentiIntervie.20f.html

3 Comments

  • why "look like" a moron? ;)



    Did anyone think - even before this interview - that those people were anything but morons?

  • that does it.. now he's going to lobby Congress to outlaw Linux boxes..

    I have mixed feelings on that one.

    :-)

  • It has been pointed out on Slashdot that whoever makes PowerDVD now has a linux version of their product, thus invalidating the entire premise of the interview.



    The interviewer's stated goal was benign, to 'open communication' between the pirates and the copyright holders. In pursuit of this goal, the interviewer doggedly hammers the MPAA guy, at least most of the time--the rest of the time, he's pretty busy telling us how smart he is.



    I'm not a fan of DVD region-encryption, but I have more sympathy for the MPAA now after reading this 'interview'.

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