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apharhttp://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/100-years-of-big-content-fearing-technologyin-its-own-words.ars
The anxious rhetoric around new technology is really quite shocking in its vehemence, from claims that the player piano will destroy musical taste and the "national throat" to concerns that the VCR is like the "Boston strangler" to claims that only Hollywood's premier content could make the DTV transition a success.
In 1906, famous composer John Philip Sousa took to Appleton's Magazine to pen an essay decrying the latest piratical threat to his livelihood, to the entire body politic, and to "musical taste" itself. His concern? The player piano and the gramophone, which stripped the life from real, human, soulful live performances.
The photocopier, invented by Xerox, became a target. In 1972, Time quoted UCLA law professor Melville Nimmer as saying, "the day may not be far off when no one need purchase books" thanks to the sinister uses of the copier.
One lobbyist (rightly) contended that "the VCR is the greatest friend that the American film producer ever had," to which Valenti responded, "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."
...a famous rhetorical campaign attempted to argue that the analog cassette was literally destroying an entire industry.
Later in the 1980s, the cassette threat diminished in importance as digital audio tape (DAT) appeared on the market.
Forget cassettes—it was DAT that was finally going to bury the music industry.
RIAA President Jason Berman appeared before Congress to testify that "DAT poses the most significant technological threat the American music industry has ever faced."
... ranted about ad skipping. "It's theft," he said. "Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming."
The comment was puzzling; had any American ever signed or agreed to such a contract? Furthermore, the interviewer pointed out that commercials have always been skipped: "What if you have to go to the bathroom or get up to get a Coke?"
The anxious rhetoric around new technology is really quite shocking in its vehemence, from claims that the player piano will destroy musical taste and the "national throat" to concerns that the VCR is like the "Boston strangler" to claims that only Hollywood's premier content could make the DTV transition a success.
In 1906, famous composer John Philip Sousa took to Appleton's Magazine to pen an essay decrying the latest piratical threat to his livelihood, to the entire body politic, and to "musical taste" itself. His concern? The player piano and the gramophone, which stripped the life from real, human, soulful live performances.
The photocopier, invented by Xerox, became a target. In 1972, Time quoted UCLA law professor Melville Nimmer as saying, "the day may not be far off when no one need purchase books" thanks to the sinister uses of the copier.
One lobbyist (rightly) contended that "the VCR is the greatest friend that the American film producer ever had," to which Valenti responded, "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."
...a famous rhetorical campaign attempted to argue that the analog cassette was literally destroying an entire industry.
Later in the 1980s, the cassette threat diminished in importance as digital audio tape (DAT) appeared on the market.
Forget cassettes—it was DAT that was finally going to bury the music industry.
RIAA President Jason Berman appeared before Congress to testify that "DAT poses the most significant technological threat the American music industry has ever faced."
... ranted about ad skipping. "It's theft," he said. "Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming."
The comment was puzzling; had any American ever signed or agreed to such a contract? Furthermore, the interviewer pointed out that commercials have always been skipped: "What if you have to go to the bathroom or get up to get a Coke?"
