Shawn Hogan, Hero
August 22, 2006
I am absolutely in awe of the MPAA.
I have some friends of mine who recommended getting edited DVD's from various websites that offer edited DVD's. It's a great idea, because we don't watch R-rated movies in my house. However, many excellent movies came out with an R-rating due to content that could easily be removed without hurting the plotline or quality of the film.
A perfect example: take Steve Martin's angry rant at the car rental lady out of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and you have a PG-rated film.
So I thought it would be appropriate for a FamilyFirst pick to give one of these outfits a try.
Well, guess who sued them and got a Colorado judge, Richard Matsch, to see things their way.
Ergo, the edited movies websites are being forced to close up shop and will not accept new customers.
Here's the scenario: Hollywood creates “art” that frequently offends individuals. The individuals seek to buy the art in a sanitized version. DVD's are purchased at full price from the studios and edited for content, then passed on to the consumers at a profit.
WHO LOSES?????
Ah, but the MPAA is not in complete control of the process, therefore they sue. And businesses providing a valuable and necessary service are forced to shut down.
I recently purchased Neil Young: Heart of Gold. Do you know what the MPAA forces me to do before I can watch the video? Sit through a loud, obnoxious commercial warning me about what will happen to me if I steal movies.
It is my fervent hope that angry consumers will one day put entities like the MPAA and the even more obnoxious, grandma-suing RIAA out of business. These pathetic control freaks can see that they are no longer necessary to distribute movies and music, so they are intimidating and inconveniencing people through lawsuits, as well as fighting legislation that would streamline digital delievery of music and films.
Today's FamilyFirst site is an account from Wired News concerning a millionaire who was accused of downloading a movie (that he already owned) by the MPAA and was offered a settlement of $2500 to forget the whole thing. Well, they messed with the wrong millionaire.
Enjoy, and look for more on these pathetic, lawyer-laden organizations and what you can do to legally bypass their tactics.
Comments on “Shawn Hogan, Hero”
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I agree that they (MPAA and others) are going overboard. I like to have the option of purchasing clean films. I had purchased a film from Cleanfilms.com and now that they are forced out of business I have to buy films with all of the smut in them(even though generally it os one or two scenes is all) . How come when movies go on TV sometimes they can edit them, but you can't buy an edited one. Do we have to have somebody edit it (like tv) and then stream it and then have us subscribe to their service and watch it that way. This is getting ridiculous!
So sorry, but you are wrong. What you bought was not the content, you only own the disk it's on. Want to shred the disk, go ahead. But if you fool with content where does it stop. Can you change a history book or novel so the writer seems to say something he didn't? Can you change a piece of music so that it seems as though my symphony was written by someone else, or was written differently. I own my thoughts and their expression in published form. I shape their content. You do not have the right to modify or alter my intended expression to fit your views, whether well meaning or insidious. Don't like the content? Go elsewhere. If you would rather eat burritos don't complain if you buy a package that advertises it contains fish sticks.
Michael Moore "modifies" and "alters" intended expressions all the time and them promotes the distorted version as "documentary". Why does he get sued by MPAA or RIAA?