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"Just when the AMOA show started, the Senate cancelled the Red Baron amendment and sent the software rental bill back to the House. When the senators who wanted software rental asked the House people what they were going to do, they said they weren't going to do anything-the senators could just forget the whole package if they didn't want the amendment helping operators. "Finally, the senators agreed with the representatives that the senators would put the software rental bill, along with the Red Baron amendment and a whole bunch of other things , into a bill creating 80 new federal judges! The judges would be added to cope with drug dealers and similar problems. It was a veto-proof bill; there was no question it would pass." Bob Fay , AAMA executive vice president , had this to say: "AAMA has been opposed to this gray market legislation for three reasons. First, it opens the door for counterfeiting . That's a fact; I don't care what anyone else says. Second, parallels siphon offR&D dollars. And third, their sale hurts authorized distributors. "I don't know why operators want parallels so badly . They carry no warranty, and the price difference between legitimate kit games and parallel kits is only $100 or $200." Fay added that the AAMA board will "almost certainly meet to review the options that may be available in the weeks ahead ." Said Gil Pollock, AAMA president, " AAMA opposed this legislation. We disagree with the action taken by Congress, since our membership was never afforded the opportunity to testify at a public hearing involving the legislation . Our members are sensitive to the concerns of operators who want to purchase games at reasonable prices . "In 1989, 96 of 116 games were introduced in kit form, and that trend has continued into 1990. We agree with AMOA that the controversy between our organizations, and between suppliers and operators, is hurting the entire video game industry. The most important thing now is to put this behind us and work for the good of the industry, including industry promotion and such joint activities as congressional passage of legislation to create a new dollar coin." Frank Ballouz, speaking on behalf of his position as president ofFabtek/Irem, says he takes his hat off to AM 0 A for ' 'one hell of a lobbying job,'' but ''I don't like the manner in which they were able to get the legislation passed,'' Ballouz said. ''The congressional subcommittee that Bill Beckham testified before (Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property) didn 't hear our side of the story, and the information they got wasn't 100 percent true . Some misstatements were definitely made. For example, most of the games that came out this year were kits , but Congress neyer heard that . " Also, what bothers me isn ' t parallels in and of themselves. It's the co-mingling of parallels with copied boards. That worries me; I'm afraid this legislation may lead to a bigger problem with counterfeit games." AMOA ' s argument that it simply wants fairness in the world market doesn 't hold water, Ballouz believes . " Let me draw an analogy ," he said. " We in the United States pay less for a gallon of gasoline than the Europeans and Japanese. Are the oil companies, then, going to raise our prices to $4 a gallon or $5 a gallon, to ensure a fair world market? Of course not! Operators want to pay the same price for PC boards as other countries, but it doesn ' t work that way . That's being shortsighted ; it shows a lack of understanding of the coin-op world market." Ballouz fears that ifthe law stays in effect until October 1995, it could prove disastrous for the industry . ''We' ve got a great industry ; there's no reason that both sides can't work together and coexist," he said. " But I'm afraid these four years could have an extremely detrimental effect upon the industry . Operators have already cut back on buying new games . If they maintain this pattern , then buy even less while waiting for parallels, we as manufacturers may have to consider serious cutbacks on our R&D budgets. With an already weak economy, the combination could be fatal. " Trucano takes over AMOA presidency Speaking of Trucano , he officially began his year as AMOA president at AMOA Expo '90, held Oct. 25-27 in New Orleans. During the past year , he served as first vice president and chairman of AMOA 's Expo Planning Committee . Other officers taking office for 1990-91 were : Gene Urso of Madison Coin Machine Co. in Monona , Wis . , first vice president; Craig Johnson ofTATAKA in Salt Lake City , Utah, treasurer; R.A . Green III of Rosemary Coin Machines of Myrtle Beach, S.C ., secretary . Also taking office were three AMOA vice presidents, each elected to three-year terms: Jerry Derrick of Derrick Music Co. in Charleston, W . Va.; Don Hesch of A.H . Entertainers in Rolling Meadows, Ill.; and Jim Stansfield of Jim Stansfield Vending in Lacrosse, Wis . The 10 new directors elected to the board for three-year terms were: Doug Gapter of Gapter Amusement in Cheyenne, Wyo.; Sharon Harris of Stan Harris & Co . in Philadelphia; Ross Furman of Skillful Vending in Portland, Maine;JimFranzofH .A. Franz&Co. in Houston; Ed Tolisano of West Coast Music in Treasure Island, Fla .; Ray Bynum of Bunky the Juke Box Man in Jacksonville, N .C .; Ray Shroyer of Metro/Canale Amusement in Streator, ill.; John Newberry ofVenco Amusement in Bland, Va.; Jim Reed of Patton Vending in Modesto, Calif.; and Doug Minter of Tip Top Amusement Co. in Carson City, Nev . December 1990/PLAY METER 13