MPAA chief exec Jack Valenti predicts movies online by 2005

"I really do believe that we will be able to have some '” maybe by
this time next year '” we'll be able to have the beginnings of some really
sturdy, protective clothing to put about these movies," Motion Picture
Association of America chief executive Jack Valenti said in an interview
with The Associated Press.

Valenti said he would like to see movies go straight
from the big screen to the Internet, where customers could download or
view them on demand well before DVDs and videos reach the store shelves.
"We want to use the Internet," he said.

Fighting piracy it says is putting its financial
health at risk, Hollywood is working with high-tech experts, including
Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and universities, to develop a secure system
for delivering movies, he said.

Valenti said the industry has no current plans to sue
pirates, as the music industry is doing, but isn't ruling it out because
he has seen surveys showing music piracy is being taken more seriously
since the lawsuits began early this year.

"As long as stealing movies and music is high-reward
and no risk, people are going to do it," Valenti
said.