Legacy Antitrust Decrees Ending?

[Unusual post today. I don't plan to make a habit of it. Orville post Thursday, BattleTech post next Sunday.]

Apparently, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has filed to end the Paramount Consent Decrees (and other similar decrees across other industries).

It's disconcerting to see the body responsible for combating anti-competitive practices try to argue that anti-competitive practices will benefit consumers, or to say out one corner of their mouth that the Decrees no longer serve a purpose while admitting from the other corner that these tools could allow the studios to force some theaters out of business.

I'm reluctant to dispute their reasoning without knowing more about the body of antitrust law. Ultimately though they rest their argument on what the grand purpose of antitrust is, and... isn't innovation associated with ecosystems which favor lots of little guys over a handful of monoliths? Ditto, resilience? If lifting the Decrees does turn out to be a mistake, are there provisions to reinstate them, and protect the most vulnerable theaters until that happens?

I don't know. The Department may be right to let the pendulum try to swing somewhere new. I would be more comfortable with it if their press release had been able to cite similar historical examples from comparable industries, and if all the guilds weren't disagreeing with them.

Personal Update

I don't mean to be uncommunicative. A malfunction over the winter holidays has limited my productivity. In theory I'm better off now, but in practice it's a side grade which doesn't address the root problems.

I regret if anyone's been put out. 

Immediate upshots:

• I remain unlikely to record video in my current environs.
• Twitch remains unfeasible for me. 

I appreciate that YouTube allows double-speed playback but I wish it wouldn't keep bumping the quality up to where the video starts getting choppy. I notice the updated Terms of Service include an item about not using third party services to evade YouTube's controls - I assume that's directed at Facebook and the like, yet I can't help thinking how useful it would have been to have a service which allows playback at triple and quadruple speed.

The Orville Episode 8 - Folded Away

I'm pretty happy with this conversation.

Forgot to say that Drogen's actor (Brian Thompson) was in Star Trek Generations, three episodes of Enterprise, two of Deep Space Nine, and one of The Next Generation. The Drogen character probably bears some discussion: on one hand, he isn't directly menacing and can perhaps be read sympathetically; on the other hand, none of the other rooms in his apartment seem to have locking doors or boarded up windows.

I like that the kids' role isn't to make problems but to make problems harder.

I love the aesthetic of the videogame. The simple holograms feel more analogous to Tiger Electronics than to a smart phone.

Dr Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald) shows how hard it is to be a single mom and also kidnapped, while Isaac (Mark Jackson) proves the old adage that it takes a V'ger to raise a child.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 7 - Wesley Get Off the Grass

It's always a little weird to hear Captain Mercer make a monetary quip, but hearing "you look like unemployed back up dancers" followed immediately by "what is money" is an exceptional whiplash. Is the Planetary Union really a post-scarcity society?

How is an economy based on reputation any different from this world governed by social media?

John Lamar (J Lee) gets thrown under the bus and his friends learn to manipulate the court of public opinion. Hosts SkilTao and VanVelding discuss 'government by reddit,' and SkilTao has a theory about Lamar.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 6 - All You Need Is Krill

This episode might be the first time our introductory comparisons start to sound like organic conversation.

I don't mention it in the podcast, but there's a Voyager episode with aliens who have an afterlife as energy beings, and I'm not yet convinced the Krill don't have something like that going on.

Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) and Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes) dive into Krill culture. Hosts VanVelding and SkilTao talk about using humor as mortar, and SkilTao has a theory about space whales.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 5 - Time Travel and Bullshit

I make two mistakes here. (Well, three if you count trying to record over a really bad connection without a script.) First, I got Charlize Theron mixed up with Tricia Helfer; and second, you can find a moral in the episode, in the contrast between Pria's "don't apologize" platitude and Kelly forcing Ed to apologize. 

"Time Travel and Bullshit" was the name of a peer-review science journal VanVelding and Derek joke about in their TNG podcast. The Orville's solution to time travel paradoxes is growing on me.

Star Trek scripts sometimes lived or died on the performance of their guest actors. Despite questionable temporal mechanics, the "Pria" script succeeds where "If the Stars Should Appear" stumbles, and "The Orville" gets good guests.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 4 - If a Theme Should Appear

Discussion is shorter this time but, I think, on point. Still starts out staccato.

I wonder if Liam Neeson was originally meant to be the villain of the episode, and writing around that created some of the issues we talk about.

"If the Stars Should Appear" wanders from big idea to big idea without digging into them. It also pries at the characters' relationships. Hosts SkilTao and VanVelding discuss missed opportunities and speculate about the season's romantic arcs.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.