There Is No Cat

Apres moi, le deluge

I was over at my parents’ house earlier today and we were talking about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket or something like that. They mentioned something weird that’s happening, and I mentioned something weird, and back and forth. One of the things I mentioned was the court ruling that SonicBlue would be forced to monitor their users’ actions with their ReplayTV units to see if they were skipping commercials. They were amazed and appalled that a judge would do that, and relieved that another judge stayed the order. But their response in general was interesting. My mom already watches a lot of TV on tape and fast forwards past the commercials. The commercial skip button on the ReplayTV is a neat idea, but if having one means inviting Michael Eisner into her living room to track her every move with the remote, she’ll just keep using the VCR, thank you. I suspect most Americans would feel the same way.

Hollywood just doesn’t get it. The future is coming. It’ll get here come hell or high water. And if they think they can hold their fingers in the dike, they’ll be drowned. As reformed marketer Doc Searls is fond of saying, there is no demand for messages. People don’t search out advertising (with the exception of things like classifieds, grocery store ads, and other such notices with specific, useful information). They go out of their way to avoid it. And the methods of avoiding those messages have been invented. They can’t be uninvented. Hollywood needs to put its mind to creating new business models, or be prepared to drink a lot of water.

In general, the law is a reflection of what the people as a whole consider to be in their common interest. Laws that flout that principle tend to be honored most in the breach. And lawmakers who pass laws that run counter to the interests of their constituents can be replaced.

Posted at 10:11 PM