Business Letters

Re: “Small banks urged to lend,” Dec. 23:

I got quite a laugh from the continuation-page headline “Bankers blame regulators,” about banks’ citing regulator constraints as a reason they weren’t lending more.

If anything is responsible for the catastrophic recent failures of the banking system, it is the complete and total lack of adequate regulation and oversight of mortgage lending.

Joseph Bonino

Glendale

Small banks urged to lend

Columnist wrong to buy bootleg

Re: Michael Hiltzik’s business column “Landlords’ pullback puts L.A. Toy District at risk,” Dec. 21:

Hiltzik’s offhand reference to purchasing an illegal copy of a movie was disturbing. Buying stolen property is not something an L.A. Times columnist should do, let alone write about as if it’s OK.

I also find it tragic in an ironic way that this purchase was made by a newspaper columnist, whose own industry is in danger of disappearing in part because of the amount of “free” content online.

Though an L.A. Times subscriber and a believer in the vital role that journalism plays in what’s left of our democracy, I am also a worker in the motion picture business, where employment has been materially reduced by the distribution of pirated copies of movies.

I urge Hiltzik and anyone else to stop doing that.

Jamie Anderson

Santa Monica

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We, the cinematographers of IATSE Local 600, are pleased Hiltzik wanted to buy “District 9.” However, we would like to point out that purchasing pirated DVDs is no different from buying a stolen car.

Digital piracy costs the entertainment industry $6.1 billion in annual revenues. Those are lost wages and disappearing jobs for tens of thousands of middle-class Americans.

Even more important, the health and pension benefits of IATSE members are largely supported by DVD revenue.

We ask Hiltzik to think twice the next time he’s considering buying pirated materials.

Steven Poster

President, IATSE Local 600

Los Angeles

Future of the Postal Service

Re: David Lazarus’ consumer column “Postal Service a vital option,” Dec. 20:

When our government started the U.S. Postal Service, our politicians recognized that a reasonably priced mail service would help unite the country. I think it still does, and it deserves a public subsidy.

The Postal Service needs change, but not forced privatization. If the private market is all that great, let it jump in on its own, and we’ll see who wins.

David Datz

Altadena

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The U.S. Postal Service has a dead business model. Technology has bypassed the traditional service.

The brick-and-mortar retail section should be sold off to private industry and the distribution side be outsourced.

There is no reason every piece of mail can’t be tracked at every stage of its journey. The Postal Service is too anachronistic and lethargic, and there is no excuse to keep it going.

Praf Amin

Palmdale

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As a postal retiree, I still find that the Postal Service offers the best bang for your buck when it comes to first-class mail. Trust me, no private company wants to offer the same level of service for such a small amount of money.

Timothy Hansen

Palm Springs

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