"This leads to schizophenria on the part of Hollywood, which has never been conducive to mental stability in the first place. For example, while Jack Valenti attacks the danger of digital copying for being pristine (A Clear Present and Future Danger), he simultaneously claims (in the press release regarding the DVD burner raid) that digital copies "dupe consumers into purchasing a wholly inferior product." Even when making videocassetes from a DVD, the result "rob[s] consumers of a quality viewing experience by offering an inferior product," according to Ken Jacobsen, Senior Vice President and Director, Worldwide Anti-Piracy, MPA. But wait, in another press release (MPAA Identifies Malaysia as Hotbed of Intellectual Property Theft), Valenti states that, "Unlike traditional analog video piracy, a pirate digital disc is as pristine and pure as the original, further blurring the lines of legitimate and pirate product in the eyes of the consumer." Wholly inferior product or pristine and pure as the original? Hollywood can't seem to make up its mind.

What this means is that the desirability of bootleg movies seems to have little to do with the quality of the bootleg. When movies are readily available at the local Blockbuster to rent at $2.50 for a few days (with guaranteed availability) or are available for purchase for less than $24 (or even cheaper 'pre-viewed') quality would not seem to be a significant consideration with regard to whether a bootlegged movie is desired. Thus, Hollywood's obsession with the 'pristine' nature of digital copies is misplaced. Some bootlegged movies may or may not be 'pristine' copies, but the consumer of such pirated works is never going to be able to guarantee that they will be able to get one of the 'pristine' copies." [LawMeme]

These are my two favorite "take-downs" in Ernest's essay, but the whole thing is a wonderful dissection of this issue. Hopefully, the entertainment industry will pick up on the bigger issue they're missing - that of supply and demand. I have demand, but not for what they are supplying. They're the only ones that can change that equation.