Speeding Up the Tapes - Nefarious Cable Channels ad More Commercials

No, this is not a surprise.

I think it was the USA Cable Network, when cable first began to infect the television world, that discovered how easy it was to doctor video tape so it could play faster. On reruns of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," the slow-talking host began to sound like Alvin the Chipmunk.

John Lennon used to talk about how strange it was that sometimes he'd hear a song on the radio, and it sounded faster than he remembered. Think maybe a DJ with a pitch-adjusting turntable was speeding up the songs a little so he could throw in more commercials?

Fine, two more cable stations have been "outed."

It's a long shot that any government regulation protects the public from this butchery of art. It would be up to the copyright owners to prove it's being done, and then convince a judge that it's caused "damages."

In this capitalist world, courts insist, "What are your DAMAGES. Can you prove that you're DAMAGED in some way? DAMAGED to the point where you deserve money?"

Speeding up "The Wizard of Oz" doesn't cause "pain and suffering" to the copyright holder. In fact, the copyright holder would lose money if a TV station refuses to rent a title that can't be speeded up so more commercials can pay the costs.

Viewer, YOU LOSE.

It's just the "What are your Damages" game. Somebody strangles your cat? "What are your damages? You can get a new cat from a shelter, free." This was the view of Andrea Peyser, the despicable NY Post reporter who hooted when a man was brought to trial for kicking his ex-girlfriend's cat to death. He got off, of course.

It's also the "nobody can do anything but the copyright holder" game. Cable channels, like YouTube, like blogs, like torrents, are under no legal obligation to be legitimate and honest. Ask a cable channel if they have permission to speed up tapes, or ask a blogger if he has permission to throw music around via downloads, and the answer is: "Don't ask. You're not the copyright owner. Bug off."

Then, Catch-22, the copyright owners can't get damages to make it worth pursuing. At best, the copyright owners spend their own time to file a complaint and get a "cease and desist." And usually have to keep doing it until they give up.

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