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EFF Supporting Home DVD Editing

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the another-front-to-worry-about dept.

cheesedog writes "The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a brief in federal court in support of companies that offer software to edit violence or sex from a user's DVD. The full story can be found in this article from the Salt Lake Tribune."

5 of 508 comments (clear)

  1. Yes, let the Mormons edit their DVDs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As long as I can still view all the sex and violence I want, then I'm fine with it. Personal censorship is a right.

    1. Re:Yes, let the Mormons edit their DVDs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As a Mormon, I'd have to agree. If I want to see a good movie, without the sex & language, why not?

      I'm still paying for it. I'm not selling the changes or forcing them upon anyone.

      I just get to watch my video (I payed for it), in my home, on my terms.

      You would think Hollywood would welcome the chance to relaim customers, but apparently all they're intent on is reducing society to the lowest common denomiator, with no exceptions.

  2. It ups the potential audience size by zptdooda · · Score: 5, Insightful

    , so what's the problem?

    "Consumers are being empowered to use technology to customize the way they view something in the privacy of their own home, and this makes Hollywood nervous," said Jason Schultz, the EFF attorney

    I don't see why empowering the customer in this way would be bad for Hollywood. The customer wins, but I don't see the flipside loss.

    Is it that Hollywood would want to sell their own software to do this? Is it lost opportunity cost?

    --
    Esteem isn't a zero sum game
    1. Re:It ups the potential audience size by wfmcwalter · · Score: 5, Insightful
      If customers assert their right to control something they (gasp) actually own, they might (gasp) get ideas above their station.

      Maybe they'll want to show their kids a version with sponsorship messages and product placements removed. It's not difficult to imagine a (PC based) player that takes a "blurtrack" file which matches a DVD, and superimposes a blur over parts of the screen that I don't want crammed down my throat.

      Maybe they'll want to watch the basketball but have the TV show a replay rather than listen to the network's shamless shill proclaim "I'm going to Disnaeland".

      Moreover, the EFF is defending the principle that the customer should control what they've already paid for. That the customer can watch a US region movie in Australia. That the customer who bought the home version of "I know what you did last Tuesday" can watch it on their laptop, on their cellphone, can listen to the soundtrack without the dialog, can skip over the ten minutes of trailers and ads that preceed it.

      Hollywood doesn't want the consumer having this control. It devalues their advertising and prevents them from reselling you the same material over again in each format you want to use.

      --
      ## W.Finlay McWalter ## http://www.mcwalter.org ##
  3. I think that this is good by Carnivore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because it lets people self-censor, rather than a giant company doing it for all of us. This lets people who don't mind (or even enjoy) violence and sex to see more of it, and those who do mind can watch the same stuff, sans sex and violence. Anything to increase the granularity of censorship is great in my book.