The movie studios want to protect their future, by controlling the customers, hence the Citizens Be Damned Time-Warner Protection Act. But they can't force people to spend money for a lousy product. They might want to look to that as well, if this Frontline story is any indication:

"What's interesting about the business," says Richard Natale, a reporter for The Los Angeles Times , "is that it's no longer the movie business. Essentially, people don't make movies anymore. They make spectaculars. ... The reason we went to see 'Casablanca,' or even 'Jaws,' was because the story was really fascinating. The characters were compelling. We sat and ate our popcorn, we sat on the edge of our seats, we cried, we tore our hair out. ... We don't do that anymore at movies. It happens less and less. We go to movies to be bombarded."

Even the "Indy" film companies are increasingly masks for the same corporate crud; an art-house facade on corporate product:

"Miramax showed you could make a $100 million art-house movie," film critic Elvis Mitchell tells FRONTLINE. "And what that said to the studios was that, 'Oh, if we pretend we're in the art-house business, the independent business, then we can co-opt that money, too.'"

What are they promoting most heavily these days --- Sorority Guys? The Internet will not kill them. Lousy product might.