by Dr. B.A.Loonatic » Jan 3rd, '07, 13:42
I just followed the link and signed the petition. It sounded like the "right" thing to do at the time.
Then I followed the link to the page that was referred to IN the petition and found that it is a site called, "Magic Video Depot".
Unless it's owned by You Tube, as far as I can tell it's not the same thing. What I saw there (at least on the main page with strictly "Guest" access) seemed to me like people posting their performance of various sleights for the purpose of gathering feedback from fellow magicians. I only looked at about a dozen videos or so and though some were done poorly, most were done well and none that I could see revealed any real secrets.
One video did show some ring flourishes from a De'vo DVD that is currently available for sale, and another member pointed out that it might be inappropriate to demo the moves citing the fact that De'vo wanted the moves to remain private from anyone who hasn't bought the DVD.
I'm split on this one point. Though I totally respect De'vo's wishes with regards to his proprietary rights, I don't see that the member who posted the video did anything more than post a performance. He did nothing to reveal any secrets, nor did he give any instruction.
I presume that by buying the video, the magician has implied permission to perform the effect. There is no difference between what he did and someone else purchasing a trick and then performing it for a large audience, or for his local magic club prior to a public performance.
Maybe I'm off the mark, and maybe I didin't look thoroughly enough but I didn't see anything that I believe a LAYMAN would catch on to. Certainly there was nothing that blatantly divulged how the trick was done.
Just my humble opinion. For the record, I do agree that anything that actually REVEALS SECRETS freely without "membership requirements" or some other sort of screening process should not be available to anyone just browsing the web. Therefore I do agree with (and support) the intent of the petition, I'm just not sure it applies to the content I personally saw on the website specified in the "related web link" listed on the petition.
Just my thoughts.