San Jose #4

This tape features raw footage from the television show "Wired In." While the  program never actually came to fruition, the footage offers an interesting look into the the technological trends and innovations of the 1980s.  This video features continuation of an interview with an executive at Atari, who speaks about legal and copyright issues with the rise of technology and home computers.

00:00Copy video clip URL Color bars while the interview continues in audio only.

00:55Copy video clip URL Video comes in as interview continues with Atari executive, who talks about the fact that the federal government has not been involved in copyright infringement prosecution. He also talks about the term “piracy” and notes that piracy of a video game is the same as that from a videotape as far as the law is concerned.

03:04Copy video clip URL The idea of trading between copyright violators is brought up.  He distinguishes the idea of backing up and archiving material, stating that the law requires you to handle back up copies the same as the original, so that trading would be illegal.  He points out that it doesn’t matter what one does with the material, according to the law, only that the copyright is violated.  He goes on to say that some software, such as “Locksmith” is sold for the sole purpose of making unauthorized copies of copyrighted programs is illegal, as well.

06:40Copy video clip URL They discuss the concept of age in terms of the violation of the law, noting that a number of these violators tend to be under the age of 18.  He says that it is difficult to prosecute a 16 year old, and that they prefer to educate or join with these gifted young programmers.  He comments that the most commonly duplicated game is Pac-Man.

8:40Copy video clip URL They discuss the idea of programs like “Locksmith” who gets around the law because it is sold as a way to archive material rather than to make unauthorized copies, but it is difficult to enforce this.

11:10  The interviewer makes the assumption that Atari is the only manufacturer who is pursuing these legal cases, but he  disagrees with this premise.  “The more quickly a pirate hurts us the more quickly and the more aggressively we’re going to react to preserve our rights.”

12:35Copy video clip URL He alludes to reasons why the Federal Government may not be as interested in enforcing copyright laws for computer games versus the record companies.  He is reticent to speak further, saying that it’s “obvious” and says that he doesn’t want to be seen saying this directly on camera.

14:39Copy video clip URL End of Tape

 

0 Comments

You can be the first one to leave a comment.

Leave a Comment

 
 




 
Copyright © 2024 Media Burn Archive.
Media Burn Archive | 935 W Chestnut St Suite 405 Chicago IL 60642
(312) 964-5020 | [email protected]