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Industry Group Would Permit (Some) DVD Copying
Zocalo writes "The BBC is carrying the story that agreements have been made to permit legal DVD copying for use on portable devices and The Register appears to have the same story too. While extremely light on details, the mention of Microsoft and AACS leads me to believe this has something to do with Microsoft's Janus system which has been discussed here before. Perhaps more interesting though is that Disney and Time Warner are apparently on board... Can it be that the MPAA has learnt a lesson from the RIAA's heavy handed tactics or has Microsoft convinced them that Janus will work, despite their recent record of bug free coding, and we're going to have a repeat of the DeCSS fiasco?"
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Can it be that the MPAA has learnt a lesson from the RIAA's heavy handed tactics or has Microsoft convinced them that Janus will work, despite their recent record of bug free coding, and we're going to have a repeat of the DeCSS fiasco?
I suspect the whole thing's a ploy by the MPAA and it's member companies to make it look like they're preserving fair-use rights while tightening their technical and legal stranglehold on copyright is all. After all if they can point to something like this when we cry foul about the loss of fair-use rights then they can largely fend off that line of attack. (At least in Congress.)An article on cnn.com is reporting something similar in the works for the "Next-generation" video discs. The amazing part about their article is how it specificly mentions Disney as part of the alliance. Granted, it looks all encumbered with DRM (here called the Advanced Access Content System)-- but this is a far-cry better than their attempts to push disposable and subscription-based media (DIVX).
So, does this mean we're winning? Or just that we're not losing.
I'm not trolling when I write "but does it run on Linux". The problem with these laws is that they really create abusable monopolies by saying "it's legal to copy DVDs if you pay Microsoft". That's no better - actually worse - than saying "it's legal to have two copies if you pay the MPAA for two copies".
"A new trailer warns that buying a pirate DVD is like stealing a car or phone."
Um... no. That is like saying killing a caterpillar is the same as killing George Bush (No troll intended, first name i though of)
English teachers beware: reading the above may induce orifice hemorrhaging.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
[snip]
Northern Irish paramilitaries and Afghan Sikhs are among those involved in selling DVDs in the UK, according to the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact), the industry's anti-piracy unit.
I remember we (on /. ) used to joke a few months back that it won't take long for pirates to be labelled "terrorists" and puppy killers. Now this is *actually* happening.
From Orrin Hatch labelling piracy as "anti-children" to this latest FUD, I can't believe they'd go so far (in cahoots with the government ofcourse) to spread their lies.
I could argue that the Record companies and "artists" are culprits in the first place, because they *produce* the music/movies which these "terrorists" pirate in the first place to fund their activities?
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Janus was the Roman god of doors and gates (or beginnings and endings). "January" is derived from Janus; the beginning of a year. Janus is generally portrayed as having 2 faces, one looking forward and one looking back.
Hmm, 2 faces... two-faced...
I'm not sure if I should be concerned or amused that Microsoft chose this name for their system.
Amen! This is the exact thing that bothers me about the FCC's Broadcast Flag. In the alt.tv.tech.hdtv newsgroup I brought up the fact that soon I won't be able to build my own PVR, because I won't be legally allowed to "copy" certain video streams.
All I got was this big response saying all I had to do was buy an "official" card that supported the broadcast flag and encrypted stuff appropriately. But you can bet your marbles those official cards will only work under Windows (see DeCSS and not wanting to give out keys).
So this is a big issue. It's basically saying you can still make a PVR, but you have to 1) pay Microsoft, and 2) honor the broadcast flag.
How about, NO?
--- witty signature
Did anyone else take offense at this statement?
agreements have been made to permit legal DVD copying for use on portable devices
Permit? It is not these companies' place to permit me to do anything! The rights to use recorded material has been defined by the Supreme court of the United States. These rights are not something to be graciously permitted by companies who only exist by the virtue of money I pay for their products!
Not to mention that this scheme will almost certainly grant Microsoft a virtual monopoly on every playback mechanism for any recorded material. Do you really believe that there is any chance in hell that this DRM scheme will ever run on any platform but Windows?
Vote with your dollars, people! I for one am not going to purchase any damned part of this scheme. And I am an electronics engineer. If it comes to pass that no playback device for any recorded media in the US can be bought without this DRM scheme, then I will make it my sole purpose in life to determine how it may be defeated and spread it throughout the Internet.
Fuck 'em! Just fuck 'em.
As if I have to ask for permission to copy something that I own in the first place?
I rent my apartment. I read and signed the lease prior to occupation. I crossed out the parts I didn't agree with, and the landlord accepted the modified lease. I don't pretend that I own my apartment, and the landlord didn't pretend he sold it too me.
But, this DVD thing, is apparently different. According to the MPAA:
When I see the the billboard movie ads says "own it today", I think of actually owning a movie. But after I've shelled out hard cash and pop in the disk, the MPAA informs me that this movie is licensed for home viewing... Wait a minute? - I thought I was buying the DVD, as in, I NOW OWN THE MOVIE. How can the MPAA impose terms on the use of something they no longer own?
What it comes down to is this: If the MPAA can impose terms on me after I've bought something, I don't really own it. And why would I buy something I can't own?
The communists didn't believe in private ownership either. Given Hollywood's leftist leanings, the MPAA's attempt to erode private ownership of goods comes as no surprise.
I'll think about buying a DVD when the MPAA can tell me exactly what, if anything, I own after the purchase
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
I dont for one second believe that they will allow free and unincumbered copying and I have proof- I was just down stairs, and I checked the temperature in hell- there was no freeze.
Seriously though- the issue for the *AA is not the copies or even the volume of copies distributed- its the idea that copying and distributing is quickly becoming something you dont need a recording/producing company to do for you, for mega-middleman-bucks. Its all about the control, stupid.
Nor do I believe the MPAA is more ethical simply because it hasnt taken the hardline approach of its sister organization, the RIAA. The only reason for this is that the threat posed to their cartel by information systems is much smaller. Consider the bandwidth requirements of transferring a movie vs an mp3. If we ever get fiber to the home, we'll see how they feel about copying for fair use rights.
Rember kids, what these people would love to set up is legislation whereby every time you hit "control-c", it hits your checking account for $XY.99. In doing so, they garner virtual veto power over the entire information systems industry. Oh I am so sorry little internet startup, you can't market your product, because it might help someone make an illicit copy! What part of "This will destroy the US economy" don't they get?