Valenti's Wallenda-Like Balancing Act

According to this Hollywood Reporter story delivered to me via Yahoo News, Jack Valenti made an appearance at ShoWest in which he declared was on piracy for about the fourteenth time in recent memory. See Valenti Vows Piracy War if, like me, you can't get enough of Valenti's hyperbole. But, but, BUT . . . if you head over to the MPAA's site for Valenti's press releases, you'll see what I suspect to be the very same speech under a very different headline: "VALENTI ANNOUNCES DRAMATIC BOX OFFICE AND ADMISSIONS INCREASES IN DECADES IN SHOWEST ADDRESS" in which Valenti is quoted as saying: "theatrical exhibition will endure no matter how hard and fast blow the technological winds." The article continues: "Valenti said that was never more evident than in 2002 with box office totals of $9.5 billion, an increase of 13.2% over 2001. 'That?s the highest year-to-year increase in twenty years,' he said."

So, which was it? The latest declaration of war by the leader of an industry staggered by the crippling threat of broadband piracy? Or a celebration of one of the most financially successful years in Hollywood's history?

It couldn't be both, now . . . could it?