Thank God for common sense.

I don't know what's wrong with the lawmakers and the entertainment business as a whole in the US. Gordon Gecko may have taught us all that "Greed is Good" but there has to be a line drawn somewhere. Let's understand something, I absolutely want to observe compyright laws and I want to pay good money for good product supporting good development of goods. However, I refuse to pay fifteen bucks for a CD that only one song is anywhere near replayable (i.e. Mariah Carey's Glitter) or for two DVD boxed sets because they wanted to grab cash for the privilege of ending the show (i.e. Sex in the City).

So, imagine my horror when I read this week that the idiots down below wanted to institute a carrier signal in the TV shows to new quipment stopping it from taping the shows. I thought, just how much money do you want from us? The studios are releasing every old show known to humans in the hopes of a new found stream of cash. M.A.S.H., Dukes of Hazard, Dallas, Sandfor and Son, every Star Trek series, Three's Company, Knight Rider and more. But now, they want to stop you from using your electronic VCR to tape the shows to watch later or to archive as they see this cutting into their revenues. They just don't get it.

Avid DVD collectors like myself (1100+ and counting, sadly) will gladly continue to cough up coin in the hopes of getting excellent quality transfers, no commericals, behind the scenes featurettes, director commentary, making of sequences and more. We buy the DVDs to get more out of the experience from our favourite TV shows and movies. We're the ones that are paying the premiums for the privilege, not Joe and Jane Blow looking to catch missing episodes on the season.

So, if they had gone through this plan, I guarantee you it would not have lasted as they shot themselves in the foot and people protested with their wallets. When will they ever learn?

Ciao.

[print version] Court yanks down FCC's broadcast flag | CNET News.com