Alternet: Your Handy Home Censorship Kit

[unhappycamper]

Your Handy Home Censorship Kit
By Zack Pelta-Heller
AlterNet. Posted May 26, 2005

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/22027/

A new device allows consumers to cleanse their DVDs of sex, profanity and violence. Directors and copyright holders call foul -- and the battle between moralists and filmmakers is on.

<snip>

To true cinephiles, the absence of such iconic moments might ruin these films completely. To directors and Hollywood studios, such modifications are gross violations of copyright laws and artistic visions. Yet to Bill Aho, CEO of ClearPlay, these classic scenes epitomize the kind of degenerate sex, violence and foul language of Hollywood entertainment that consumers should have the power to purge from their movies.

<snip>

Most of these family entertainment companies, ClearPlay included, have emerged from Utah. As Aho said, "There is a concentration of families and religiously oriented people , and I think that had something to do with the early video editing companies starting here." In a recent USA Today article, Jason Crop, who founded MovieShield technology, said of this cluster of companies that got their start at Brigham Young University, "I think what happened is the melting pot lent itself to these ideas. I think it honestly comes down to the Mormon culture. You don't watch R-rated movies, or you be very careful what you watch."

Mormon values aside, at the heart of this issue -- now that the government has disregarded concerns of copyright infringement with regards to ClearPlay -- is a battle between moralists and filmmakers who feel that their works are being compromised by this technology. In a statement from the DGA, Rumpf said, "As the creators of films, directors oppose giving someone the legal ability to alter in any way they choose, for any purpose, and for profit, the content of a film that a director has made, often after many years of work. Directors put their full vision and often years of hard work into the creation of a film. That film carries their name and reflects on their reputation."

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[atommom]

1. So now fundie parents can remove all of the cartoon buttcheeks

(and the scene in which Patrick wears fishnet stockings) from the SpongeBob movie, and save their children from the film's homosexual agenda. It would be nice if the availability of this device made them less hysterical about the evils of pop culture, but I'm not holding my breath. They'd be lost without their hysteria. :crazy: