Does the Magnussen-Moss Act Cover DVDs?

Woody77 asks: "I'm somewhat familiar with the Magnussen-Moss Act of 1975, which is mainly about warranties, but also mentions that you can't link one product to another. The wording, in typical lawyer-fashion, is vague. But it boils down to stating that you can't tie one product/service to another. It was mainly put together to handle situations as aftermarket parts being added to a car, and a dealer trying to claim the warranty is void for doing so. Now the question is: How does the Magnussen-Moss Act pertain to DVDs? It seems to me they are trying to tie one product (DVD Players) with another (DVDs). They both use the same technology, and are a natural pair, but why can't I use my DVDs elsewhere?" This raises the point: are DVDs covered by the Magnussen-Moss Act, or was there some legal maneuvering performed to make them exempt? If they aren't exempt, then what law allows the MPAA to tie DVDs and DVD Players together?

Comments

How could that possibly apply here?

[Space Cow]

There is nothing about DVD technology that inherently couples a specific DVD to a specific player. I can buy a Sony produced DVD and play it on any hardware player in the market and any software player I can get my hands on. In fact, as we saw in a recent /. article you actually pay more to add CSS et al. I don't think that the M&M Act could apply here (although it won't melt in your hand :-)

Anyone with a deeper understanding want to correct me on this?

Re:How could that possibly apply here?

[DaveHowe]

here is nothing about DVD technology that inherently couples a specific DVD to a specific player. I can buy a Sony produced DVD and play it on any hardware player in the market and any software player I can get my hands on.
Actually, you can't. All DVD players are made by licencees of the technology from the DVD manufacturers; there is no such thing as a non-licenced DVD drive.
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what about other uses for M&M Act?

[einstein]

I don't see how this law applies to DVDs and DVD players, but what about another some other issues? My cable modem provider makes you subscribe to cable television (a company which the ISP is a subsidiary of). Now, I would like to eliminate that cable TV bill, cause I don't watch much TV, but It seems I'm not allowed to do such a thing. Is that legal?
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Re:what about other uses for M&M Act?

[DaveHowe]

Unfortunately, no. The breakline between your cablemodem service and your cabletv service isn't where you think - it is that you are hiring the cable service (which contains both modem and tv support, and bundles the minimum channels) and an ISP (which uses the modem bandwidth). One cable company can support multiple ISPs if need be, and no ISP is force-tied to one Cable company - they can support several. However, if they say that the only cable company in your area whose fibre they connect to is the one you are currently using, you can't force them to support more.
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Not applicable

[Daffy Duck]

"Product tying" doesn't refer to compatibility or interoperability, it refers to purchasing. The M-M act says that it's illegal for me to take two separately available products like, oh I don't know, say HooverVacuum95 and HooverVacuumBagsIE and demand that you cannot buy one without buying the other. But it doesn't outlaw the fact that HooverVacuum95 won't work without HooverVacuumBagsIE if I am able to buy them separately.

Patent Pool

[Detritus]

I believe DVD players are covered by a patent pool. You can't build a DVD player unless you license the patents from the patent pool. To license the patents, you have to agree to follow their rules on DVD player design.

Another technique is trademarks. If you want to manufacture VHS cassettes, you must license the trademark if you want to market them as VHS cassettes and use the VHS logo.