A Brief History of the VCR
When Sony introduced the VCR, Hollywood declared it a tool for pirates and lobbied Congress to ban it. Jack Valenti, the industry lobbyist, told the U.S. Senate, “The VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman home alone.” The rhetoric was high, and the political battle was fierce. It ended up at the Supreme Court, where the VCR was saved by a single vote.
Today, the movie industry is back in Washington, trying to get the latest wave of technology banned. Their cry is still “piracy,” and their logic is stull cynical. Consumers aren’t criminals—they will pay for new, convenient technologies. Video sales now comprise nearly half of Hollywood’s revenue. People are not only watching movies at home, but they are flocking to theaters in record numbers. It’s a Hollywood ending Hollywood never dreamed of
This wasn’t the first time big media tries to control technology, and it won’t be the last. Public Knowledge exists to ensure that the next VCR, the next technological innovation, doesn’t get left on the cutting room floor.
