Posted by Goro on 01/24/06 22:56

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060124-6036.html

What happens when an organization that is best known for inveighing
against the unauthorized copying of movies gets caught doing exactly
that? The Motion Picture Association of America was caught with its
pants down, admitting to making unauthorized copies of the documentary
This Film Is Not Yet Rated in advance of this week's Sundance Film
Festival.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated looks at the motion picture ratings system
created and run by the MPAA. Director Kirby Dick submitted the film for
rating in November. After receiving the movie, the MPAA subsequently
made copies without Dick's permission. Dick had specifically requested
in an e-mail that the MPAA not make copies of the movie. The MPAA
responded by saying that "the confidentiality of your film is our first
priority."

Dick later learned that the MPAA made copies of the film to distribute
them to its employees, despite the MPAA's stance on unauthorized
copying. Ah, there's nothing like the smell of hypocrisy in the
morning-apparently the prohibition against copying films without the
copyright owner's consent doesn't apply to the MPAA. A lawyer for the
MPAA justified the organization's apparent hypocrisy by saying that
Dick had invaded the privacy of some MPAA staffers, which justified the
MPAA's actions.

.....

Oh, how beautiful...

-goro-

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