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Adam Bresson Demonstrates Fair Use at DefCon

nigelc writes: "Adam Bresson showed how to make copies of copyright-protected videos in a speech at DefCon. To quote the article, 'I hope he's got a lawyer and that they talked to somebody'" From the article, it sounds like Bresson simply used a video conversion box to defeat MacroVision -- something my notorious criminal father has been doing for years.

3 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. Re:VCDs by Moridineas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    god that is so stupid. With the lack of any TRUE infringments on freedom (see Revolutionary War) todays generation has nothing better to do than whine about companies not including vcd support as evidence that the US is not free. WHAT BULL.

    Don't buy their DVD player, how about that? no one's making you. You can buy one that supports playing vcd, they exist! Hell, you could even start your own company to supply such a product, because demand is clearly high, you could become rich by doing this too! Rich and in the moral highground, way to go !! Or you could start a petition, again, because vcd is so overwhelmingly popular. Or you could do the lazy crap thing to do--whine about it on slashdot.

  2. Re:Is this really fair use? (ie. Devils Advocate) by Temsi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since the copyright laws specify you're paying for the CONTENT not the MEDIUM it is stored on, it makes perfect sense to ensure the content you've paid for will remain in your posession even if the storage medium fails for some reason.

    You get another bag at the grocery store if the first bag rips on the way out, right? Or would you leave the groceries on the sidewalk? Of course not. You've already paid for them.
    Now imagine if the store told you you'd have to pay for the groceries again in order to get a new bag.
    Same thing as when a record store asks you to pay full price for a replacement cd.

    --
    -- This sig for rent.
  3. Re:I'm shocked by RollingThunder · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Purchasing DVD's is not out of the question, but buying more than a few a year stresses my budget. I did buy Oceans 11 and Lock Stock...Since I wore out my HD watching them on divx.
    Problem 1: Students' incomes are quite low, and not continuous all year long.
    Problem 2: I need to buy books. Textbooks are expensive.
    Problem 3: 10 DVDs * $20 each = $200. 200 bucks is a large percentage (don't laugh) of my annual income.
    Meta-Problem: you have no intrinsic right to these products. It doesn't matter that you can't afford to buy them or can afford to buy them. If you can't, you don't get them. Simple as that - or it should be.

    You have a choice. Pay for the movies, or pay for the books - but don't pretend that being short on cash makes it OK to watch rips off the net. It's still wrong.