joegratz.net

There have been a number of reports that Jack Valenti, chief lobbyist for the movie industry, is to step down from the post he has held since 1966. This New York Post article indicates that Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) may replace him.

In 1982, during a hearing on possible legislative responses to the Betamax decision, Valenti uttered his most famous of many soundbites:

I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.

The film industry survived. It was not killed by the VCR. In fact, the new technology turned out to be a boon, once the studios figured out how to use it to their advantage. The studios now make more money from home video than they do from theatrical exhibition. The music industry needs to see digital distribution as an opportunity, not a threat. With luck, in twenty years, today’s overheated P2P rhetoric will look as silly as Valenti’s famous sound bite.