p2pnet - rss feed: Valenti says he’s on his way
Jack Valenti MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) boss says although he’ll step down as the MPAA’s ceo "within the next several months," he’ll still be around - but as its chairman.
He also says by the middle of 2004, movies will, in effect, be wearing body armour to protect them against pirates.
"I really do believe that we will be able to have some - maybe by this time next year - we’ll be able to have the beginnings of some really sturdy, protective clothing to put about these movies," he’s quoted as saying in an Associated Press report here.
In a virtual capitulation to the concept of Movies Online, Valenti said he’d like to see them go straight from the big screen to the Net so people could download or view them on demand "well before DVDs and videos reach the store shelves," the report states.
It doesn’t say how retailers would feel about the idea.
Be that as it may, Valenti says fighting piracy is putting Hollywood’s financial health at risk and it’s working with high-tech experts, including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and ‘universities’ to develop a secure system for delivering movies.
Hollywood has no current plans to sue pirates, but isn’t ruling it out, says the AP story. "Valenti, a lifelong Democrat, said California’s new Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, could be exactly what the budget-strapped state needs and he urged the media to give the former actor a chance.
Speaking about his departure, Valenti said he’d prefer to see someone familiar with Washington such as a former Cabinet secretary or member of Congress take over as the lobby group’s chief, adds the AP report. It seems, "Members of the film industry he sought out as possible successors weren’t interested".
[Did anyone say Tauzin? - Ed]
