Please take a moment to review these guidelines and posting rules before you enter the Current Discussion.

This on-line discussion is provided by its sponsors for the purpose of stimulating and encouraging an open, responsible discussion/debate about problems in the film industry (both domestic and international), along with possible solutions. The FIRM site is dedicated to the proposition that the best ideas and solutions will generally result from a full and vigorous debate, thus this Forum should demonstrate how the free marketplace of ideas makes our democracy work.

Each participant is encouraged to offer facts and evidence backed by research where possible (or to at least cite supporting authority for positions taken). We are looking for well-reasoned arguments and respectful disagreement, not prejudicial appeals to emotion and outbursts of panic.

Also, please keep in mind, for the benefit of persons visiting and reading the messages, that it is important each response to a previous message clearly identifies which message is being responded to (by means of using the same headline or by going to the earlier message and clicking on the "post reply" button) and that such response notes exactly what in the previous message is being addressed.

Please limit each message you post to one narrow topic and identify such topic in the headline. For example, instead of labeling a message about "Movie Violence" with the much broader heading of "Film Industry Reform," which is what the entire site is about, go ahead and refer to the contribution by the more narrow topic heading.

Other areas you might care to address in this discussion may include "Net Profit Participation", "Employment Discrimination", "Antitrust Law Violations", "Patterns of Bias", "Current or Proposed Litigation", "Biased Biopics", "Who Really Controls Hollywood", "The Nature of Feature Films", "Favored Themes", "Aspect Ratios of the Cinema", "Movie Propaganda", "Movies Influence on People and Society", "Quality of Movie Theaters", "Control Group Motivation", "Should all Tickets Cost the Same Price?", "Medium and Its Ideas", "Effect of Movies on Children", "Development Hell", "Go to Film School to Become Unemployed", "Film Investors' Considerations", "Remedies", "Alternative Distribution Systems", "Role of the Internet", "Risk to Reward Ratios in Movie Investments" and the many other topics that may be discussed within this valuable forum.

Participants are asked refrain from profanity and name-calling and repeated offenders are subject to having their posts deleted from the Forum. Unfortunately, our early experience with this discussion has resulted in some examples of emotional (shall we say hysterical), thoughtless and even defamatory name-calling, and messages peppered with obscenities. This discussion is not a forum for the posting of hate-mail or anti-Semitic comments and we apologize to you (in advance) if you are offended by the irresponsible conduct of a few individuals whose childish "contributions" have tended to lower the quality of this discussion as a whole. Although we have elected to retain some of the puerile posts on the forum (because they illustrate the mentality of some of the people who will inevitably run across this Forum), we have revised these Guidelines and increased the restrictions on who may participate. By entering this Discussion Forum, you are asked to assure us that you have read and will abide by these "Guidelines & Posting Rules"and if that's done, no other restrictions will be placed on anyone's participation except as already stated above.

Your contributions to the Discussion Forum can be any reasonable length, however, after posting, please review your text to make sure it has not been truncated. If it has, submit a threaded continuation clearly labeled "Name of the post_____ Cont."

Should any Discussion Forum participant desire to contribute a more lengthy article relating in some aspect to the broad topic of film industry reform (either pro or con), we would be happy to consider posting such article in our "Background Information" section. Such contributions should be emailed in text format to Guest Author with the request that the article be considered for posting on the FIRM site. ALL OF SUCH SUBMISSIONS, AS WELL AS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FIRM DISCUSSION FORUM, ARE DEEMED TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY A GRANT OF PERMISSION TO NOT ONLY POST THE MESSAGE OR ARTICLE ON THE FIRM SITE (OR IN THE FIRM ARCHIVES), BUT ALSO ACCOMPANIED BY THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR FOR THE FIRM ORGANIZATION AND/OR ITS FOUNDERS TO USE ANY PORTION OF OR THE WHOLE OF SUCH SUBMISSION IN FUTURE PUBLICATIONS OR POSTS.

An extensive archive can be found at http://www.homevideo.net/FIRM/archives.htm for those of you who may have missed earlier discussions.

Los Angeles-based securities/entertainment attorney John W. Cones will respond to important and thoughtful posted comments in the Discussion Forum as time permits. Excerpts from his writings on the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry appear under Excerpts from John Cones Books at Background Information in the FIRM site and may serve as a starting point for this on-line discussion.

Your contributions are sincerely appreciated. We hope you stop by often and enjoy the dialog which is helping reform the Motion Picture Feature Film Industry for all.

F.I.R.M. was founded on
March 15, 1998

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