Magic News Network

Just Say No to Knock-Offs!

Last night, we read the story of two men with a group called Pirates With Attitude ("PWA").

The Feds (as opposed to the "Well-Fed," which describes us) claimed that the PWA folks were hacking software to take of the copy protection and thus allowed anyone on the Internet to download the software for free.

This was premium software. PWA thought that because they did not charge for the downloads, they shouldn't be prosecuted of theft.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.

They stole, they got caught and now they go to jail.

It got us thinking -- it could happen -- of a novel method to protect magic inventors intellectual property.

We don't know why this idea hasn't been suggested before – perhaps because it is either too obvious or unworkable.

Dorothy Dietrich's Houdini Museum Featured on Discovery

From our very short and limited involvement with television network production (Court TV covered most of our first trial) we know there is an economic and strategic bias against covering stories unless they are in one of the top three television markets. 

It is tough to blame the network producer.  They need to bring the project in under budget. A story from Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles is easier and less expensive to produce than one from, say, Scranton, Pennsylvania. 

So, given the choice between two comparable stories, the twenty-something producer will cover his or her bacon by shooting the story in the major media market. 

This economic bias is exactly why we are impressed with Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brooks.  Despite the fact that their Houdini Museum is not within a top-three market, their work and the museum are frequently featured in world-wide television coverage.

In support of our theory we offer the news that the Canadian Travel Channel's Magic Road Trip begins this Friday and will feature the duo and their contribution to magic history.