GOP House members add "anti-smut" provision to piracy bill

[villager]

from today's Variety... what it's really about is helping a GOP client company, in the guise of "cleaning up" all that messy art n' culture that, you know, might give people ideas...:

Surprise! Pols edit piracy bill
Poison pill in antipiracy bill

By SUSAN CRABTREE


WASHINGTON -- Just when Hollywood was ready to celebrate its latest legislative victory in the war on piracy, House conservatives inserted a little plot twist.

In a surprise move, the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday added legislation allowing the filtering from movies of sex, violence and profanity to a popular antipiracy bill. The antipiracy legislation would impose stiff criminal penalties on copyright infringers who pirate pre-release music and movies; it also would make the use of camcorders in theaters a felony. A version containing similar camcorder language passed the Senate in July and the two houses were expected to reconcile any differences and quickly move the bill to the president's desk before the end of the year.

But with the filtering provision lumped in, Hollywood is now in a bind. The bill in question, dubbed the Family Movie Act and sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), is an attempt to address a lawsuit by the seven major studios and the Directors Guild of America against ClearPlay, one of several companies manufacturing and selling the DVD filtering services. Directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Steven Soderbergh are adamantly opposed to the technology, arguing it treads on their creative rights and destroys the integrity of films.

<snip>

There's no word yet on how Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) will respond; spokeswoman Margarita Tapia did not immediately respond to a question about her boss' plans. The ClearPlay bill has Hatch in the hot seat. Although Hatch is a strict Mormon and hails from a socially conservative state, he is usually a reliable entertainment industry ally.

But ClearPlay is a Utah-based company and Hatch normally would want to step in to help out his constituents. When asked if he had plans to move his own version of the Family Movie Act earlier this year, Hatch would say only that he's considering it.

<snip>

More at www.variety.com -- subscription site...

[CarolynEC]

1. Okey-doke. Now let's have a look at the computer hard-drives...

... of all our pious, morally superior elected representatives.

[villager]

exactly (n/t)

[sui generis]

2. wow. talk about overstepping!

Don't like the book? change the words. Don't like the painting? Paint a different colored fig leaf.

America what the hell is going on upstairs? As to ClearPlay I have this to say: don't license your works to them. In fact, specifically exclude them from re-broadcast. If ClearPlay wants to fuck up a film, let them produce their very own.

[villager]

3. I think the problem with ClearPlay is...

...that the technology could theoretically work with any DVD player, if deployed. I'm not sure what the issues are about encoding discs so that their "aftermarket" censorship wouldn't work...

[sui generis]

8. pervasive technology?

Didn't any of these republicans ever learn that you can't replace parenting with legislation and technology?

Well, I certainly hope it fails the vote. It's ludicrous and invasive. By extension, the producers would need to "mark" objectionable sections in accordance with a series of standards so that the technology could ignore those portions. Can you imagine the lawsuits the first time a nipple got marked the wrong way? All these snot nosed little republican kids being irreparably harmed by some nipple metallurgy?

[toopers]

4. Can anyone explain how the technology works?

I am at a loss.

[mark0rama]

6. I can, vaguely.

A ClearPlay-enabled DVD player is equipped to recognize specific DVD titles, and uses a built-in script to determine with parts of the movie to skip over and bleep out.

As new titles are released, ClearPlay creates new scripts (sets of instructions) for the player to censor each title, which the end user must download from their Web site and burn to a recordable CD. That CD is then inserted into the DVD player and the new scripts are copied off of it.

ClearPlay may produce several such scripts for each title, to create varying levels of "appropriateness."

While I disagree with their efforts, ClearPlay does appear to be on solid legal ground with this approach.

[villager]

7. not necessarily on solid legal ground...

Directors are arguing that there may be copyright infringement in making essentially "new and not approved" versions of movies -- for profit...

[mark0rama]

9. I hope you're right.

ClearPlay, of course, will try to claim that they're not doing anything you can't do yourself with the fast-forward and mute buttons.

P.S. I just looked at their Web site - they charge $79 a year (or $2.95 per title) for their fast-forward and muting services!

[madrchsod]

5. LOL...... to bad hollywood

and your scum bag friends in the recording companies..you got what you deserved...when you make deals with the devils you get burned....

[mongo]

10. Is there really a problem here?

People still have to buy the original DVD, so there really is no copyright infringement.

How is this any different than when a movie is edited for TV? If directors are concerned about the integrity of their product, why would any movie ever get edited for TV?

If people want to watch a "sanitized" movie, I say let them. Like the 'V' chip, this leaves the decision up to individual consumers.

[villager]

11. yes. starting with: why buy/rent the DVD in the first place?

I mean, if you have to cut out all the "naughty bits," just watch something else.

You're talking to one who's always hated the "edited for television" stuff, anyway, though some directors have "alternate takes" they do, so they control the "tamer" versions of their own films (this was more prevalent when broadcast networks were the prime means of getting films on the small screen...) Kind of like when they cut a film to get a certain rating, then release an unrated version on DVD...

The point is, there's still some creative input into those changes, ridiculous as they may be.

These "scripts" from this company in Utah could mangle everything. The directors are arguing it'd be like you or me editing the films and releasing our own versions -- for profit. That's the legal argument.

[mongo]

14. I'm not a big movie fan

so I don't have any concrete examples for you, but I'm sure there are movies out there that more conservative folks would like to watch with their kids, but don't because of language.

These "scripts" from this company in Utah could mangle everything. The directors are arguing it'd be like you or me editing the films and releasing our own versions -- for profit. That's the legal argument.

You still have to purchase the original DVD. It doesn't affect the films profit, and in some cases having these devices may increase sales of a title. So this company profits from producing these scripts to sanitize a movie. It is an aftermarket product. should I not be able to buy custom rims for my car because it changes the carmarkers "vision" for the car? Should people not be able to make mix tapes because it ruins the artists vision for the album?

As far as mangling, I like to watch ER, but have PTSD regarding medical procedures. Should I not watch the whole show with characters I enjoy, because I won't watch maybe a few seconds of the show?.

I really hate defending RW fundies, but in this case, I think that it is only fair to let them have a product there is a demand for - far better than their usual cry for government to censor everything in our society not fit for a 12yo.

[villager]

18. as a writer...

...I'm just innately against anything that makes it easier to bowdlerize work, regardless.

What happens when "ClearPlay" players wind up in high schools or colleges, so that "approved" versions of films can be the only ones shown to students?

Regarding your car analogy, I guess it boils down to whether the movies are "products" or "works of art." We have plenty of examples for both catgegories, of course. Directors like Scorcese are arguing for the latter.

[Yavin4]

12. Um, So How Would ClearPlay Handle "The Passion"?

It's got all kinds of violence it.

[villager]

13. but, you know...

God-approved violence!

[Yavin4]

15. I See. S&M Is Okay As Long As God Approves

So, is Jesus a submissive?

[DaveSZ]

16. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas),

This guy is a total prick.

He's my congressman.

[Democat]

17. Democrats need to take over Congress and the Senate

The Republicans are trying to destroy the country - they don't care about free speech, privacy rights, or anything else except protecting corporationg and forcing their religion on to people who don't want it.