Don't Let the Door Hit You, Jack . . .

One of the reasons I will not, in the least, miss Jack Valenti now that he's departing from his leadership of the MPAA is his propensity for absurd statements like this (from a recent NYT article in which people argue for their right to copy their own legally purchased DVDs):

the film industry argues that software for duplicating encrypted DVD's should be outlawed. "If everybody was a good citizen and used it for benign purposes, you'd have no problem," said Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America. "But if you let one person circumvent the encryption, you have to let everyone. What about the person who is not so benign?"

The association argues that the only way to prevent people from using such tools in an illegal way is to make the tools themselves illegal.

I can understand how some people might be momentarily bamboozled by statements like this. It superficially sounds reasonable. Of course, you don't have to "let everyone" circumvent encryption, but there's an even bigger problem with Valenti's argument, ably demonstrated by my civil servant of the month, Rick Boucher . . .

Representative Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, rejects that premise as "hogwash." He has introduced legislation intended to promote the availability of DVD-copying tools designed primarily for legitimate consumer use, and to extend fair-use provisions of copyright law to consumers who break anti-copying protection.

"Because a hammer can be used to break a window, and a burglar can use a hammer, outlaw the hammer, that's the philosophy," he said of Hollywood's position. "But historically we have never outlawed technology that was capable of legitimate use. If the technology has bad uses, then punish the people who use it wrongfully. Don't outlaw the technology."

To which I can only respond: If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land. I'd hammer out justice!