LAT: Push to Allow DVD's to Be "Sanitized" Alarms Studios

[DeepModem Mom]

Push to Allow DVDs to Be 'Sanitized' Alarms Studios
As the Senate acts on broadcast decency, a bill to allow technology to filter scenes looms.

By Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — Which should prevail, artistic freedom or a tool that could be used to protect children from foul language, nudity and violence in movies?

Over Hollywood's long-standing objections, some members of Congress are endorsing legislation that would allow DVDs to be "sanitized" — stripped of scenes that parents don't want their children to see or hear — without first requiring the consent of studios or directors....

***

A House bill now gaining momentum would make it so that sanitizing films do not violate federal copyright law as long as the edited copies are restricted to home use, as opposed to being shown in theaters. DVDs are sanitized through filters that can remove any kind of material regarded as offensive — profanity, nudity or violence, for example.

Called the Family Movie Act, the bill awaits action in the Judiciary Committee, where it has won an endorsement from the influential chairman of the panel, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R.-Wis.). No comparable bill has been introduced in the Senate.

The legislation was introduced in response to a fight being waged in federal court in Colorado by the studios, the Directors Guild of America and 16 prominent directors against ClearPlay Inc., a Utah company that sells filtering software and DVD players with special filtering features built in....


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-decency23jun23,1,842779.story?coll=la-home-business

[7th_Sephiroth]

1. the question in my mind is

is it optional, or will it be forced, i mean, can i watch american pie with the nudity if i wanted to

[Tyler Durden]

2. We have a child-level materials censor in my house already:

IT'S CALLED "PARENTS."

The theocracy is coming, Jesus don' wan' no fuckin' on yore TV pardner.

[progressivebydesign]

18. But parenting is TOO hard.. they whine!

I'm shocked at the movies my 12 year old's friends are allowed to watch. Stuff I consider too much for ME, and they've all seen them at home, or their parents get the into R movies at the local theatre. There is no R movie that I'd take her to.. even Michael Moore's film. While I see the value in F 9/11, she is not emotionally or intellectually ready for that movie. I had to explain the trailer for F9/11 to her... I'm certain the movie would be overload.

You know, you're right, It's called PARENTING, knowing what does and doesn't work for a 12 year old. I have no interest in finding santitized versions of movies for her to see. She can see what's appropriate for her particular age and maturity. If a film is beyond that for her, then she can wait until she's ready to see it.

The freaky thing about these sanitized movies, is that it's mostly always SEX that is removed. The parents don't seem to care about graphic, gratuitous violence.. but sex is another story. I actually do care about both of those portrayals when comes to my 12 year old's viewing habits. She's not ready to process a lot of what is out there yet. There is such a push to sexualize pre-teens, so you need to watch for that, too. That's that pesky parenting thing again. In our house, we say that PARENT is a verb, not a noun.

[NashVegas]

3. Hard One

About the only parallel I can think of is when someone takes a copyrighted image from popular art and manipulates it for either satire or commerce. What laws apply there?

[Ripley]

5. However Leslie Neilson spoofing "Airport" is known to be

a parody. Taking someone's original movie and cutting it up is changing the intent of the people involved with the original.

This is STUPID. How can kids understand a movie like "Payback" with Mel if the sex and violence and profanity is removed? And why would you want your kids to rent that video anyway?

Just say no Mommy and Daddy.

[Baltimoreboy]

17. I saw Payback and I'm still not sure I understand

I do understand it was a waste of two hours.

This could be done in a way that is OK and a way that is not. Companies should have the option of releasing DVDs that would be subject to this. They should have the option of not doing it.

[Ripley]

26. It was a pretty dark movie.

I wouldn't say it was a waste. I thought it was one of Kris Kristofferson's finest lately, even though he only had a bit part.

But the point is movies are rated for a reason. Certain categories have been established already that designate what the content is. Why do we need more than that? If you don't want your small child to be exposed to any kind of profanity...G is the answer.

[Baltimoreboy]

30. Even G or PG movies contain things parents don't want

I think this should be best done voluntarily.

[bleedingheart]

4. This is the lazy parent feature

I am so sorry but if you want to watch a film that has nudity/swearing or whatever in it, but you don't want your kids to see it...Watch it after they go to bed ...like I do.

Sanitized version...how absolutely ridiculous.

[hightime]

8. It is a tool for parents, I recently watched Short Circuit with my kids

there is a scene using the word "shit" about 5 times. While I might find the scene funny, it was not appropriate for the kids. It also added nothing to the scene. I would have loved to have had it removed.

Since we are talking about a service that I would have to ask for and pay for, I don't see where it is anyones business but mine. It is the same as saying I can't skip scenes I don't like by using the remote. Keep your nose out of my home.

BTW, blockbuster censors their movies all the time. Also, "sanitized" versions of movies are also shown on airlines. If they can do it why can't I purchase a service to edit what I chose to buy?

[Ripley]

10. Blockbuster censors movies?

I didn't know that. What do they do? Do they do it themselves, or do they carry edited versions made by the original production company?

I agree some movies gratuitously overuse profanity and sometimes it gets so annoying I don't enjoy the story at all. But why do you want your kids to watch those kinds of movies. For Pete's sakes there are so many Kiddie and Family movies out there.

[hightime]

11. Blockbuster itself removes scenes.

I read that the owner is a devout Christian and does it for this reason.

The only link I can find is by Ebert.http://www.raptorial.com/Zine/b-buster.htm

[Ripley]

12. And you think that is okay for them to do this without informing

it's customers? They are imposing their own moral view on the customers without informing them...why? To maximize profits. If they told people they were a "Christian" video rental store and edited "offensive" material from movies, they'd lose huge profits.

That's offensive to me. If they want to take a stand, do it. But they are deceiving people...how Christian. :eyes:

[hightime]

13. No I do not. That is why I go to the local video store for my movies.

What I do support is my being able to pay for a service to edit my movies the way I want to watch them. That is what the original story was about. The people in Hollywood can produce any kind of "art" they want but when I buy it it is mine and I will do with it as I please. Their is no law against me buying "art" and modifying it, why should their "art" be treated differently? I can buy a painting and cut out the background.

[Ripley]

16. I'm not a lawyer, but I think there is a difference.

If you buy a piece of art I make...you can cut it up however you want. But you cannot resell my "edited" artwork to make a profit. I have copywrite protection of my work.

If a company is making a huge profit by "editing" thousands of copies of "Short Circuit" I believe they may be infringing on copywrite laws.

Like I said, I don't know the legal status. But it's not about you cutting out parts of a video you buy...it's about the service making money off of the original.

[Occulus]

21. Why don't you rip the films to your hard drive

and perform the editing yourself? Shoot, you could do it at zero cost beyond the hardware involved, which is thereafter yours. You could quite easily do it even to VHS films, given the proper video card on your PC. You could even do it for your friends' movies, and save them money, too.

I fail to understand why people don't realize they themselves could do far more justice to their children's intelligence by doing this kind of thing on their own; they know their children and what they can handle far better than any cold, impersonal business can. For my part, my parents (for all the evil they later directed at me) did one thing exquisitely well: they made certain that I, from a very early age, had a clear understanding of the difference between fantasy and reality.

Maybe, in the end, that's all it really takes for a child to be left minimally effected by violence in the media.

[Tommy_Douglas]

24. Blockbuster does edit their movies...

I remember see Spun for the first time and when I saw it on the dish a month later I noticed a lot more that I hadn't seen on the Blockbuster movie. Of course some of the things they omitted were strange. Like the scene in the porn store when O'rourke's character is talking about pussy... I mean I've just seen nudity, sex, and large amounts of drug use. Why is this being removed?

[hyphenate]

19. What you choose for your family is fine

However, advocating such absurd and harsh measures to protect your family isn't something that most of us would approve of. Censorship on such a grand scale is more of a violation of the country's civil rights than it is of violating an individual's rights.

If you object to something in a film, then don't bother going to it. If you believe there is a need to take away a filmmaker's ability to make the film he or she chooses to make, warts and all, then you're on the wrong side. There are solutions if you aren't happy with the turnout of a film--don't see it, tell all your friends not to see it, and protest in written form to the studio in order to tell them to upgrade the quality of their film turnout. If people aren't watching the films that are being made, then the studios and filmmakers will scramble to make films that people WILL see.

But just don't try to censor the film's vision that others might want to see. Don't buy the films on VHS or DVD. Tell your local video store why you aren't buying it. Parents have that option. It used to be a "free country" where no one stepped on anyone else's rights to choose their selections of entertainment, sports, literature, etc.

Censorship on this scale--allowing obcenity filters to "create" new works--is against the most fundamental element of a filmmaker's creativity process. It shouldn't be another battlefield on which the filmmakers must wage battle, especially since parents DO have the choice NOW to either accept a film the way it was conceived, created and filmed, or not buy it at all.

Free speech needs to be protected--otherwise, this kind of measure will surely grow, and the first amendment we all cherish will be just another cut on the editing floor of John Asscroft and his evildoers.

However, as you have the same right, to speak as you wish, remember that our founding fathers fought long and hard, and often died to give us this right. Don't allow your puritan sensibilities to try and make a decision on censorship for all of us. Buy or do not--that's your choice.

[hightime]

25. What are you hyperventilating about? Did you even read the article?

"Don't allow your puritan sensibilities to try and make a decision on censorship for all of us."??? The article is about a company providing a service for people who pays for that service. It would have no more effect on you than my paying for a weekly lawn service would have on your grass getting cut.


Try reading the article before posting about how "It used to be a "free country" where no one stepped on anyone else's rights to choose their selections of entertainment, sports, literature, etc."

If I want to have a company rearrange a movie, a cd of music or make me a compilation of "money shots" from assorted porn videos I have bought it is my business and doesn't effect you in the least.

[Occulus]

28. Actually, no, it's not JUST your business.

By paying them to do it for you, it becomes their business as well. By allowing them to make the decision of what your children should and shouldn't see, you're directly abrogating your own parental responsibility while at the same time insulting your own intelligence by in effect saying you can't make those decisions for your own kids with any degree of confidence in your own abilities as a parent.

This is a serious problem; the morals and ethics of our children should not be determined or controlled in any way by any other entity than that of the parent. While some influences may peripherally affect a child (social interactions absent the parent being only one example), no force remains stronger than that of the direction provided by the parent(s). Machines should not be allowed to do this, much less be available, because later on, this will affect everyone the child comes into contact with.

Why is this a problem? Why should I care?

Because I don't want a whole big pile of moral and ethical clones who believe the single, impersonal business idea of what is considered "appropriate" for all children. If there is no setting on this little machine that allows all filtering to be turned off (settings, say, 1 - 10, with 1 being 'minimal filtering' rather than 'no filtering'), it's useless as a tool; it then removes the ability of the parent to decide for themselves that their child can handle, totally unfiltered, what someone else says they can't; if the word 'shit' four or five times is as bad as it gets, you may as well forbid your child from recess at school, because I guarantee there's a lot worse going on there than in that movie. By using this device, you're in effect saying that this ompany's morals are better for your child than your own.

This directly affects the free will of both the parent and the child, and I feel it's a bad idea on a number of levels. Better to simply make certain the child has a healthy appreciation for and understanding of the difference between fantasy and reality.

[Sandpiper]

32. No Kidding

if the word 'shit' four or five times is as bad as it gets, you may as well forbid your child from recess at school, because I guarantee there's a lot worse going on there than in that movie.

If your child hearing the word "shit" is disturbing to you, you better remove him/her from school altogether.

I must have heard "shit" "fuck" and just about every other cuss word at least two dozen times a day when I was a kid in school.

[Ripley]

33. And another thing...

Some people are afraid for their children to hear "shit" yet they don't seem to mind if their kid watches a LOT of TV where commercials are aimed directly at them using sneaky marketing. It used to be that Barbie and GI Joe commercials ran heavily before the Christmas shopping season, but now in a totally unregulated marketplace...commecials are shown 24/7 aimed at kids. Fun "food" branding is ingrained in these kids heads while very small. And it's junkfood. Ever seen a commercial for organic spinach during Sponge Bob?

Which is worse for the child's health?

[markbark]

6. Huh?

Over Hollywood's long-standing objections, some members of Congress are endorsing legislation that would allow DVDs to be "sanitized" — stripped of scenes that parents don't want their children to see or hear — without first requiring the consent of studios or directors....


Did I miss something?
Did Congress pass a "You Must Buy Movies" act or something.

Here's a clue to the "Personal Responsibility" Party...
If you don't want your kids to see it DON'T BUY/RENT THE FRIGGIN' MOVIE </rant>



--MAB

[BiggJawn]

7. I think this is more for WalMart than any parents.

Now Wally-World will be able to sell all movies without having to worry that the local leader of the Snake Handlers will get "offended" and buy his "Anointin' Oil" from Costco....

[booisblu]

9. If this bill passes

then censoring content of everything will begin. Including music, books anything and everything that could have a dissenting message. This is poison and blows away copyright law by the government. I mean really, who is going to decide what does or doesn't get cut? Who ever is in control of the government. This sucks so bad.

[madrchsod]

14. poor babies

i feel so sorry for them. these are the same bunch who don`t want you to copy any movie or music for your own use. the beastie boys new music cd has a program inbedded that won`t allow downloading into your pc..it`s a virus! someday they may realize that the net maybe the only place they will have to sell their product without being censored. but fear not the censors are going after the net too..too many people are sticking their head in the sand, they don`t want to realize this is next...

[Geo55]

15. "Sanitized"

Oh yeah....sony , panasonic etc. build in filter chips....economies of scale....sorry sir , we no longer carry the model with out the chip.

[LifeDuringWartime]

20. those have to be activated by the user

and only block specific channels. they may even block specific show ratings (TV14, etc) but im not sure. they are password protected.

[Sandpiper]

22. Here's a novel idea

If a movie has content that you find objectionable, DON'T BUY THE DAMNED THING!!!

[SheepyMcSheepster]

23. so, what i wonder is, will this techonology work on the bible.

as i recal there is quite a bit of violence and nudity in the bible?

[Sandpiper]

27. To all those who advocate censorship to "Protect the children"

In the words of George Carlin,

"Fuck the children"

The MPAA came up with a ratings system so your widdle dumplings wouldn't see something might offend their widdle eyes and ears.

[Snoggera]

29. If The Passion of the Christ was 'sanitized'

I doubt there would be much to see. Where would all the good christian children then go to see societally approved violence, masochism and sadism?

On the other hand.............

Parents are not always around the house while their kids are watching or choosing to watch a video. Should all their videos be locked up like shotguns? A little help in the parenting arena can't hurt. What do I care if they censor little Johnny's viewing habits?

[jmowreader]

41. ChildCare Action Project "review" of The Passion

http://www.capalert.com/capreports/passionofthechrist.htm

Most violent movie on the database.

[w4rma]

31. Bad. This *will* be used for political purposes. (nt)

[jmowreader]

34. Here's your classic slippery slope

"We have to protect the children, so we're going to allow parents to use this technology to remove offensive materials from their DVDs, but only if they buy a special $200 DVD player."

leads to

"Why can't I have the same protections the rich people with their fancy $200 DVD players get on my $29.95 DVD player? This is clearly discrimination against the poor."

leads to

"As the CEO of Wal-Mart, we will no longer carry DVDs that contain sex or vulgar language, but violence is okay because Mel Gibson is a Good Catholic and we wouldn't want to upset him by censoring his works."

leads to

"We, the CEOs of Target, Circuit City and Best Buy, certify that our DVD selection comply with the same high family-friendly standards DVDs from Wal-Mart meet."

leads to

"The Home Video Software Association of America's members attest that it is too expensive to maintain two SKUs for every DVD, one for the four largest sellers of DVDs and one for everyone else, so we will no longer make non-Family Friendly(TM) DVDs. We promise that DVDs will no longer contain sex, vulgar language, smoking, drinking, drug use, fast driving, eating of unhealthy foods, playing of unsafe sports or any other activity that may damage the psyche or adversely influence American children under the age of 21."

leads to

"We at the Motion Picture Association of America are responding to complaints from American consumers who are upset that the movies they see in theatres have sex, vulgar language and drug use in them, so we have decided to stop making movies that do not conform to Family Friendly(TM) standards."

which leads to

"Psst! Hey Joe! C'mere! Wanna good DVD? I got lots of 'em. My secret little film studio makes 'em. I've got this one here 'Smokin!' that's got nothing but people sitting around smoking and telling dirty jokes. Cigars, cigarettes, pipes. There's even a guy smoking a hookah! And check this one out. 'Drinking!' It's just two men and a woman sitting on a couch, drinking a case of Budweiser and telling telling dirty jokes. We got one called 'Fast Driving!' where two guys screw a video camera to the dashboard of a Camaro and just drive the shit out of it, but there's no dirty jokes in that one. Only $19.95 apiece and guaranteed great. Whaddaya say?"

which inevitably leads to...

"In CNN Business News...three guys who are fed up by what they see as 'wimpy movies with no redeeming social features whatsoever' have gotten rich by making their own movies under the banner of 'Reprehensible Films' and selling them out of the trunks of cars on street corners. The surprise hit 'Smokin!,' which critic Roger Ebert describes as 'the first movie whose stars are a sofa, a carton of Marlboros and a big hookah,' has sold over 10 million DVDs in its first week on the market. We watched the film 'French Kissing,' which is a close-up shot of the faces of two people French kissing to loud music, and were left with the urge to drive home and suck our wives' lips right off their faces. We got a copy of 'Smokin!' and showed it to ten non-smoking editors; by the end of the movie six of them had managed to wrestle a production assistant to the ground and relieve her of her pack of Virginia Slims. Reprehensible Films' works are irreverent and a lot of fun. See one today."

[Massacure]

36. lol, then everyone else wants a piece of the pie

Thus the cycle repeats itself. :P

[tlcandie]

35. I don't agree. I think it should be up to individuals and/or parents

or whatever to RAISE their children and supervise them.

Example:
You buy one of these EDITED movies for protection of your child. He/she goes to Johnny's for sleepover and sees it UNEDITED at their house. Maybe not entirely, but, say the parts that were edited. Oopsie! How do you think you would feel when you grow up finding out that your whole life was censored from the real world where you were taught about things rather than held in isolation from them?

This reminds me of growing up in a house where there always seemed to be something wrong, but you never really knew what it was. Mommy and Daddy never seem totally happy, but you can't figure it out because they won't let out their feelings towards one another or discuss any issues in front of the children. Or better yet, it's like ignoring the one ton elephant in the room while Johnny and Cindy grow up feeling distorted and insecure.

My HUGE concern over this is regarding the fact that you take one brick and the whole wall starts tumbling down. At the rate we are going regarding freedom of speech, we won't have any rights really soon! Infringement begins inch by inch just like facism and it is a constant watch to keep people free to express their ideas and art. IMO, if you don't like or approve of someone's views, lifestyles, movies, music, etc. then don't buy it. If you start editing their work, IOW, muzzling/ gagging them then soon art and people will be totally muffled because soon the word hell, crap, poop, and peepee will even be an issue for you.

Life is about choices and consquences and each person has to find what is right for them. I do not want to live in a world or a society where they determine what they think is best for me according to their morals and censorship.

EDIT: jmowreader is right. The more you remove and keep secluded and hidden in secrecy, the more it goes underground and becomes something on the black market. Just think of how you feel not getting the REAL story from this regime! Do you want it all... blood and gore and whole nine yards... or do you want their sanitized version?

:shrug:

[Ripley]

37. Good example.

It would be a "Truman" (movie with Jim Carrey) moment for the child. Life is not what it seems.

[Sandpiper]

38. The Brown Shirts are winning

Because we're allowing them to win. Too many of us on the left will cease to examine something critically the moment someone invokes the magic words "It's for the children."

[Trillo]

39. Does this mean that every scene, perhaps every "frame"

will need a "rating?" (Much the same way a website is rated) If so, how much will this drive up the cost of producing DVDs? Will people who don't want any censorship be required to subsidize those who do through increased retail pricing for everyone?

The broadcast networks would probably love anything that increases DVD pricing.

Sorry, I can't read the original article, as I do not wish "to register."

[jmowreader]

42. How much will it increase it? Oh, probably double

I went to cleanfilms.com (a service that sells "family-edited" DVDs) and checked on a few titles. They seem to sell for about $35 apiece.

Take, for instance, "Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius." What the hell they could take out of Jimmy Neutron I don't know--that's a kid's movie already. But they want $34.95 for it. Amazon gets $14 for the family-unsafe version.

Cleanfilms.com is kind of a boutique--but you know the majors won't charge much less, since the floor is already there. They know people will pay $35 for a hacked-up copy of a $14 movie.

[Trillo]

43. I think you misunderstood one of my points.

With website rankings, a whole site can be rated, or each individual page can be rated. This allows website filtering software to make a judgement about the sites or pages content.

If this law passes, will it require ALL DVDs to have some kind of *frame-by-frame* or *scene-by-scene* rating inclusion so that the filtering player can delete the objectionable content?

If so, it will increase ALL DVD prices, not just the prices for those that have been *custom edited.*

I'm making a guess here, based upon knowledge of how website-filtering software works. This article specifically states "a filter" is used. That likely requires more than just a sacrifice by only those who wish to view censored content, it raises prices for those who wish to view uncensored content, as well, because a rating of greater preceision has to be included in all DVDs than just a single overall rating for the whole DVD.

[Brahma Bull]

40. Apparently they don't realize that parents can decide...

on what's right/not right for their child/ren to watch...NOT THE GOVERNMENT!

[The Animator]

44. I am in the film industry, computer animation to be precise...

... but it is my longterm goal to create entire films.

I swear on all that is sacred to me that if I ever produce a movie and it is censored in anyway, there will be hell to pay. If TNT wants to show my movie, it had better be prepared to show it un-censored or it doesn't show it at all. And none of this edited for time crap either.

Nothing pisses me off more than watching a classic film like Goonies, Back to the Future, the Indiana Jones Trilogy or Legend and seeing it completely butchered by censors. Some of the best lines in those films, famous lines that people actually can't wait to hear are removed entirley. When it comes down to removing entire scenes from a film because it doesn't leave enough time for commercials, it should tell you that you have entirely too many fucking commercials on your station.

I know that Walmart sells watered down Music in their stores, don't know it that goes for movies too though. I know their are some companies that offer the service of removing "offensive material" from films and then offering that version to the public. While I applaud the individual who provided a Star Wars Phantom Menace with 75% less Jar-Jar, I could never allow such a thing to happen to one of my films without there being serious concequences.