I don't usually watch Larry King

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 by Dave Winer.

A few weeks ago they had the entire cast of Heroes on Larry King, I'm a big fan of the show, so I watched. It was worth it, if only to hear the story of Adrian Pasdar, who plays Nathan Petrelli on the show, who is married to Natalie Maines, a Dixie Chick. 

When she tours, in Japan for example, she can't get the show on broadcast or cable, so she downloads it from the Internet. No one remarked that this was illegal, or could get her a big fine or jail time. Larry King didn't say a word, nor did any of his fellow cast members. No lawyer served him with a subpoena. It went unnoticed. 

Did a little reality leak in? On one hand, artists want their work to be seen. And the Internet reaches everywhere, including places that broadcast and cable don't. And it's the perfect time-shifter. Why shouldn't I be able to watch the Republican debate even if I happen to be in NY and eating dinner with a business associate at the time it was broadcast? 

Isn't it time for the entertainment industry to deal with reality, instead of making obvious deals with Alberto Gonzalez to impose insults to the Constitution and the people, in order to support their denial of technology that serves people so incredibly well.  

Maybe they should star in their own reality show, you could call it Network Execs in Denial. Put them on an island with a bunch of real people and Internet connectivity and watch them pull their hair out trying to explain to them why what they're doing is wrong.  

PS: Yaacov suggests that she was watching on this website. Interesting. Does it work in Japan??