For those lucky enough not to live in England, I'll explain:

Simon Bates was a (shit) DJ. Back in the mid- to late 80's he appeared on every video rental you could hire out, telling us the perils of video piracy (Arrrr!) and the such.
He also said, as do the modern day equivalent organisations, that video piracy harms future film productions.

Really?

Then how come the big studios think nothing of throwing nearly $200 million at a film?
Or giving an actor/actress $20 million?

I don't think 'future film production' has been harmed at all.
In fact, I think the video pirates (Arrrr!) have done the studios a favour. They've promoted the studio's babies for them, thus giving free advertising to a previously untapped dynamic: The Pikey (trailer trash to the Yanks).

Therefore, Simon Bates is a lying bastard.

Thoughts please...?

The Flemster.