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Nothing in the document says that the disk meets any standard.

The question is whether either the disc or the drives carried the DVD Logo? From what I have seen it's doubtful that the "EcoDisk" would qualify as it is less than half the thickness and weight of a real DVD, so it's interesting to see ODS trying to point fingers at Matshita for not following DVD Forum specifications.

• Copyrights: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act grants a specific copyright exemption for this purpose. See Title 17, United States Code, Sec. 1201(f). The best example of such a purpose is to allow Linux computers to play DVDs.
• Patents: If the drive carries the DVD logo from a reputable company, the patent holders have already been paid the royalty for the format. See the licensor's website describing the effect of the logo: http://www.dvdfllc.co.jp/logo/lg_nature.html.

The DVD FLLC would actually be the one company to withdraw permission to use the DVD-Logo. In their FAQ they note that violation of the DVD Format/Logo License [...] may lead to termination of the License. The DVD FLLC license requires that the DVD-video logo is only printed on discs that comply with the proper "book" (spec). I do not know if licensing of the patents involved in building a DVD-player of producing DVD-Video discs also requires adherence to the standard - I whish it did.

As libdvdcss is GPL software, it cannot comply to this requirement from the DVD forum:

The first step for obtaining the Format Book is to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement with the DVD FLLC. Under the NDA, Company is prohibited from disclosing any technical information, trade secret and know-how in the Format Book, because the knowledge contained in the Format Book is proprietary and confidential.

WRONG!!!!

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about DVDs.

According to the spec, the disc must include (audio-wise) EITHER an LPCM track or a DD track. DD tracks are NOT required for DVDs. You can just as easily create a DVD with LPCM tracks (preferable for 2-channel music) and NO Dolby Digital track at all.

Did you bother to check this before you posted?

Actually, the spec for DVD-Audio does provide for standard video DVD, albeit in a space limited manner.

And the DVD-Audio spec is not "given" at the DVD Demystified site, it is simply regurgitated in a simpler (sometimes incorrect) form. The specs are available for $5000 from the DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation.

"Most players in the US add MPEG audio to the features"

What are you talking about?!?! MPEG2 is an optional encoding method in the US but I'm unaware of any domestic (US) consumer receivers that include MPEGII decoders that would be required to play the tracks. What would the point be of releasing a DVD with an MPEG2 audio track when there's very little chance (I would say virtually no chance) that anyone could play it? Please name a commercially available US release of a DVD-Video with MPEG2 audio.

"still fewer machines handle PCM audio on your movie."

Now you're just being silly. Keep in mind that any disc that doesn't have a DD track must have an LPCM track and all DVD players must play it. For the first two or three years, nearly all DVDs were released only with LPCM tracks. I have many of them and they've played fine on every settop that both myself and my friends own, from the cheapest $50 Apex machine to the most expensive Macintosh transport.

The UOP [user operation] is prohibited during the PGC [program chain].

The DVD specs require a DVD player to check for user operation blocking.

The disk specifications are available, but exact verbage is under NDA. The requirement I referred to is what is required by the DVD FLLC if you are to put the DVD logo on your disk. If you don't mind spending a few thousand smackers, you can get the specification I'm talking about from http://www.dvdfllc.co.jp/.

The UOP [user operation] is prohibited during the PGC [program chain].

The DVD specs require a DVD player to check for user operation blocking.

The disk specifications are available, but exact verbage is under NDA. The requirement I referred to is what is required by the DVD FLLC if you are to put the DVD logo on your disk. If you don't mind spending a few thousand smackers, you can get the specification I'm talking about from http://www.dvdfllc.co.jp/.

Fees are collected for the use of that logo, by the "DVD Format Logo Licensing Corporation." According to them,

The DVD Logo is a mark that symbolizes the legitimacy and better compliance of the DVD product. When used correctly, it shows that the product was manufactured by a Licensee (legitimacy) and that the product passed the Verification test (better compliance).

Wanna know who these cats are? Again, from their own web site: "[the DVD FLLC] was a mutual effort of the ten companies that originated DVD Format back in 1995... These companies are: Hitachi, Philips, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, JVC, Pioneer, Sony, Thomson, Time Warner and Toshiba." Fascinating, what a thirty-second exercise with Google will get you.

Whether or not they are worthy recipients of your hard-earned money is left as an exercise to the reader.

...that anyone who pays the licensing costs to the DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation can make DVDs and DVD drives, then yes it is an open standard. :)

Vermifax

The licences are obtained from the DVD Forum (formerly the DVD Consortium) which originally consisted of 10 big electronics companies (Hitachi, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Thomson Multimedia, Time Warner, Toshiba and Victor).

There's definately some licenced DVD players for Linux in development (e.g. PowerDVD-Linux), but I don't see how any open-sourced version could ever be legal under the terms of the licence; disclosing the decryption source code is not allowed, as any and all information that you get with the licence is covered under an NDA.

This snippet from the site linked above shows the prices involved:

3. License Fees are now required for the right to use the Format Books. The License Fee is US$10,000 per DVD Format for each Product Category, as specified in Schedule A-1 of the Definitive License.

Example: If a licensee wishes to manufacture DVD-Video players, the licensee shall pay US$20,000 since it needs to obtain licenses for DVD-Video Book and DVD-ROM Book, both to be used for Product Category II (DVD Players).

Example: If a licensee wishes to manufacture DVD-RAM drives and DVD-RAM discs, the licensee shall pay US$40,000 since it needs to obtain licenses for DVD-RAM and DVD-ROM Books, to be used for Category I Products (DVD discs) and Category II Products (DVD drives).


Here's a link to the text of the licence (PDF format).