I'm totally fine with this. If Apple and Criterion want to re-edit the content they broadcast, that's their freedom of expression. If I want to see the original, I'll look elsewhere.
> This appearance of an unedited version of The French Connection on Disney+ casts doubt on the assumption by some that Disney - which now ‘owns’ the film following its purchase of 20th Century Fox - is to blame for the unannounced cut.
The pearl clutching in the comments here is ridiculous. It's as if these monkey-fighting commenters have never seen a Monday to Friday TV edit.
Say what you will about the sensibilities of the Bowlders, but they didn’t have control over anyone’s access to the original unedited Shakespeare. Ditto for VidAngel, and so on.
Except -- good luck finding it (and in a form easily accessible, e.g. streamable).
I get the fact that this is their right and at the end of the day, we can't put a gun to their head and make them not do this. Still, I don't need to pretend that I'm "fine" with it or that it isn't fundamentally stupid.
Oh, and guess which version teachers/professors will be allowed to show in class -- on penalty of career death and public humiliation.
Example: https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2020/07/dd-netflix-and-hulu-...
All of this erodes your actual freedom to "look elsewhere" as the places you have to look become fewer and harder to find, and are sometimes actively shut out by other platforms like EBay and Amazon.
Otherwise how can consumers know they won't like it before they buy it?