Jack Valenti was recently interviewed by John Borland for ZDNet News (Terrorized by file swappers). As a public service, LawMeme annotates Jack's answers:
I issued a statement in support of [the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act]. But we want to narrow the focus of the bill as the legislative process moves forward. [Although Valenti claims to want to narrow the focus of the bill, in other venues he talks in Biblical terms of "the possibility of a cleansing redemption" (link). Furthermore, in his statement supporting the bill Valenti was interested in narrowing the focus only where Hollywood and Silicon Valley had reached an agreement (link). Presumably, if Hollywood and Silicon Valley do not reach an agreement there will be no narrowing.] What needs to happen is we all sit down together in good-faith [having honest intentions - not something Hollywood is well known for] negotiations and come to some conclusions on how we can construct a broadcast flag (for keeping digital TV content off the Internet) [What this means is not keeping digital TV content off the Internet, but keeping it off anything Hollywood does not approve. Once something is digital, the only way to keep it off the Internet is to keep it completely locked up.], on how we plug the analog hole (allowing people to record digital content off older televisions and other devices) [This is not about allowing people to record digital television off older devices, which is perfectly legal, but how to control how they do it.], and how we deal with the persistent and devilish problem of peer-to-peer [Peer-to-peer, of course, is not a "devilish problem" but a type of network architecture that has its strengths and weaknesses. This is like saying the "devilish problem" of curtain wall architecture (which stole the livlihoods of bricklayers).] There are more than nine and a half million broadband subscribers now. [This and the following statement seem to conflict with the ostensible purpose of the proposed legislation, which is to promote broadband adoption. If the bill is necessary, there is no problem.] Once those large pipes and high-speed access subscribers begin to increase, we can be terrorized by what's going on. [Did Valenti really have to use the word "terrorized" here?] In a digital world, who on earth is going to invest large sums of venture capital in a movie if they believe it is going to be ambushed early? [Valenti is a master of language, ambushed, indeed. ] The value of that movie is going to be diminished. You don't have to be a Nobel Prize winner to figure that out. [All other things being equal, yes. However, not everything will be equal - there will be new opportunities. This is the very same argument used against the VCR. It should be noted that the more people watch movies at home, the more movies they go to see in the theater, according to Jack himself (link).]
I think [the technology community is] much more responsive [to the MPAA's concerns since the introduction of the CBTDPA] than they were. [Of course, that is one of the reasons for the CBTDPA - to scare Silicon Valley. The threat of legislative mandate will tend to do that.] I think they realize as I do that there are smart people inside each of these industries. [They probably also realize that there are really stupid people in the industries as well, i.e., the CueCat: and Resident Evil - the Movie] But as long as everyone is suspicious of each other, what we have to insert in these discussions is good faith. [Just how do you insert "good faith"? People either have honest intentions or they do not. If they don't trust each other, government won't make them do so. Government can simply force them to act in a certain way.]
But as more people in the content and the technology and the consumer-electronics communities begin to think more intensively about these issues, we're all coming to the same conclusion at the same time. [Then what is the need for legislation?] There is more incentive to do this now. [Oh, this is the need.]
None of us have anything to lose by sitting down and talking. [Actually there is time and money. Hollywood may operate on the "let's do lunch" system, but Silicon Valley engineers have real work to do.] But if we don't do this ourselves, someone is going to do it for us. [There is no "we" here. The government has little incentive to intervene unless one of the parties brings the government into it. That would be Valenti. A more accurate statement would have been, "But if Silicon Valley won't talk to us, we will get the government to force them to."]
What rights [being taken away] are we talking about? [Just a little one, called the First Amendment] I'm not trying to be glib. [Well, actually, yes he is.] A lot of people who haven't thought it through believe that anything on the Internet is free, that you can just go and take down a movie from Morpheus. [This is called changing the subject or dodging the question. When asked about the rights being taken away, start talking about the horrors of piracy instead.]
But most of the people know what they're doing. [Translation: I'm still not going to talk about the rights Hollywood wants to take away.] I know a lot of students know what they're doing is not right. [Of course, it goes without saying that Valenti also knows that what he is doing is not right as well. But that has never stopped him before.]
These kids are smart. They know. What I'm trying to do is find a ready alternative to stealing. You can never protect movies against hackers. Hackers will break into anything. But 99 percent of people aren't hackers. [Valenti is actually being fairly open here. Hollywood is not really concerned with piracy, which they can't stop, but with the actions of the average consumer, who will do things Hollywood doesn't like. People do things like lend their DVDs to friends. If Hollywood could ban people from loaning their DVDs to each other they would. Seriously, that is how Circuit City's DIVX worked - although that wasn't a necessary part of the copy protection scheme.]
I'm not faulting the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). They got hit hard by something they hadn't anticipated. We had some breathing room because of broadband. [The CBDTPA is supposed to encourage more broadband, but that is not really the issue.] You can download a song over a 56K modem almost in real time. It takes a lot longer to download a two and a half hour movie, with all its graphics.[Well, actually, a movie is essentially one long graphic.]
But there's only one thing to do, and that is for all the parties--content companies, technology companies and consumer-electronics companies--to sit down and figure out how to give consumers a legitimate alternative to stealing. [In January 2001, Valenti was saying that movie studios would be online in six months (link). In April 2001, he said it would be four to six months (link). By the way, if Hollywood could invent its own secure distribution mechanisms ... why does Silicon Valley have to be forced to make these technologies? Since it is apparent that Hollywood has not come forward with such a device, might it be because it is not very easy to do?]. If you put movies on the Internet in legitimate services, at fair prices, it will entice consumers. [True. Where are the movies? We were promised them months ago.]
It takes time to do this. If you don't begin now you're in trouble. President Johnson used to tell a story that President Kennedy told, about a French general that wanted to plant a specific kind of tree to line the driveway of his chateau. He called his gardener in and told him what he wanted. His gardener told him, "But mon general, that tree takes 50 years to bloom!" The general looked at him and said, "Then start planting right away! We don't have a day to lose." [It is not quite clear what the point of this charming anecdote is. Valenti was a speech writer for LBJ during his presidency. Odd that LBJ would quote a French general. In any case, technology is not a tree. When you plant a specific type of seedling you know what the outcome will be and approximately how long it will take. Technology is not nearly as predictable.]
That's why I think we need to do this now. In order to avoid a crisis, we need to start now, immediately. [What crisis? Movies had a record year last year, following a record year before that. Production costs are dropping significantly and negative costs (the cost to make copies of a movie and ship to theaters) is also dropping and may eventually disappear. What is the real crisis? The fact that marketing costs increased nearly 10% (link). What does inexpensive distribution threaten? The marketing department. Which is what this is really all about.]
I pray I am right. I want to give the other fellows the benefit of the doubt [that Silicon Valley is acting in good faith]. [It is clear that there is no doubt that Valenti and Hollywood are not acting in good faith.] I believe that everyone senses that the time to sit down is now, and we can work these issues out. [If Silicon Valley senses anything, it is that they need better lobbyists to prevent things like the CBDTPA.]