Slashdot Mirror

The APEX 600D mentioned here at Slashdot has the "hidden" menu that lets you disable Macrovision.

Here is a list of region/macrovision cracks for home dvd players (many done with a keysequence on remote control)

DVD Utils Home DVD Cracks

If that is already slashdot'd, try one of the mirrors through:

DVD Utils

So basicly, the PS2 hack is not news. You can go out today and a consumer DVD player with a known Macrovision disable feature, and copy movies to video tape to your hearts content, and avoid all the Macrovision glitches.

While they can have the truth bent towards their way by badmouthing DeCSS, they just CANNOT do anything about hacks that make existing players region-free, because the idea of region code itself violates the law in a lot of countries (e.g. New Zealand)

May I propose that, in addition to DeCSS, we mirror DVDGenie as well, which is a freeware obtainable from

http://dvdutils.com

The feature you refer to which prevents playback though a VCR is known as Macrovision. Your DVD player can probably be modified to remove this feature, depending on the model.

Came the time to invest in an LG 8080B DVD and I realised that it was firmware region-locked. No problem, DeCSS doesn't care about those, right? Well it seems to. Try as I may, I can't seem to authenticate a disc under Linux using the LivID tools if the disc is the wrong region. Luckily this Web site fixed my region problems for me, but I've tried several times to read "wrong" region discs in my drive with no success under Linux.

I've had a quick squiz at tstdvd.c but it doesn't give much help - the real reason is probably buried in the ioctls patch.

And, if you're particularly bored, my letter. It's wanky and tame, but that's what they're supposed to be ;)

====

Hi you crazy kids, you

We both know there isn't a legal standpoint for doing what you're doing when it comes to legal action about taking down the information pertaining to decoding DVDs on dvdutils.com. There are perfectly legal reasons for decoding legally purchased DVDs so as to view them on other operating systems not supported by vendors. You have no legal right - and in my eyes no moral right - to threaten these websites with legal action. These are small sites largely run by passionate unpaid people for the benefit of others. They probably haven't the resources to stand against your false claims - and with the cost involved are forced (albeit in a defacto kinda way) to bow under your legal weight of faulty claims. Discussing the merits and flaws in DVD encryption is not illegal and your actions degrace the legal profession.

Come on now, that's not cricket.

Matthew Cruickshank

http://www.holloway.co.nz/book/3/

And, if you're particularly bored, my letter. It's wanky and tame, but that's what they're supposed to be ;)

====

Hi you crazy kids, you

We both know there isn't a legal standpoint for doing what you're doing when it comes to legal action about taking down the information pertaining to decoding DVDs on dvdutils.com. There are perfectly legal reasons for decoding legally purchased DVDs so as to view them on other operating systems not supported by vendors. You have no legal right - and in my eyes no moral right - to threaten these websites with legal action. These are small sites largely run by passionate unpaid people for the benefit of others. They probably haven't the resources to stand against your false claims - and with the cost involved are forced (albeit in a defacto kinda way) to bow under your legal weight of faulty claims. Discussing the merits and flaws in DVD encryption is not illegal and your actions degrace the legal profession.

Come on now, that's not cricket.

Matthew Cruickshank

http://www.holloway.co.nz/book/3/

The pioneer 114 and 104S 10x are currently region locked players. Unless a firmware patch of hidden jumper is discovered, the recommendation is to stick with the older 6x model. See http://www.dvdutils.com/

That's the theory. The problem is that everyday joe will probably want to de-zone his DVD (at least if he is not in the US, the US get the movies first and cheaper), and the CSS-aware rippers are on the same page. Along with software player. Check www.dvdutils.com or www.dvdsoft.de

Of course, now that the authentication and decryption code is public

It was already public (for Linux: css-0.01, IDE auth., for Windows: miscellaneous binary-only rippers). Also the software DVD players, and W98 DVD players, have been hacked/used to death to get either the decrypted MPEG video/audio streams, or the raw images.

There are also links at http://www.dvdutils.com so that you can get around this (and Macrovision, I think).