Just like when Ted Turner did it, the same thing applied. Does it really matter that he colourized Asphault Jungle when there was VHS in identical quality released the year before? But such things carry meaning. It is the principle more than anything. But unlike Ted Turner, Lucas has actual practical consequence--one can't enjoy the original version in identical quality. If having the original in identical quality was enough to cause the most important filmmakers and motion picture businessmen to bring the issue all the way to Congress, don't you think this merits a preportional amount of seriousness for how far beyond this Lucas has taken things? If it did, Hollywood ought to be rioting. It's a bit of a travesty that things have been relatively quiet until the last few years.
Instead of watching Star Wars on VHS in 1997 and 2000, when they were re-released in wake of the prequel hype, they were watching the SE. Instead of watching pristine DVD versions of the originals, they were watching pristine DVD versions of the SE. Instead of appreciating the originals, they had to listen to Lucas go on about how inferior they were. Instead of watching Spike marathons of the films, they watch Spike marathons of the SE. And instead of watching a nice, high-def restoration of the original trilogy, they will be watching a high-def restoration of the SE. And that just brings us to present day--who knows how many more years, or decades, this will go on for.
I, at 12 years of age, happened to know the original versions intimately because of the year I happened to be born in, as did you. But a kid born in 1993--he will never remember any form of Star Wars other than the version Lucas has presented. There is more at stake than just us lucky few, who now are beginning to amount to a minority in the fanbase.
And for the rest of us, we have our rotting VHS tapes and our 2006 Laserdisc master. This is not good enough. This is not a minor thing. Almost every film ever made in the last fifty years is available in some format, it just depends on how far you are going to go to obtain it. But those that do, they are obsessive, a niche fanbase of hardcore enthusiasts. One shouldn't have to belong to such a demographic as ours in order to enjoy what are among the most important American films ever made.