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MPAA Sues DVD Chip Manufacturers

Posted by michael on from the customers'-best-interests-in-mind dept.

WhatAmIDoingHere writes "The Motion Picture Association of America has sued two chip manufacturing companies for selling integrated circuits to manufacturers that produce non-approved DVD players."

10 of 624 comments (clear)

  1. Lawyers Profit! by mfh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    FTA: Sigma and MediaTek make chips to decode the Content Scramble System, or CSS, which is the copy-protection system used for DVDs. Their licenses require that they sell only to other CSS-licensed companies.

    Let me get this straight. The content scramble system can be disabled with chips sold to companies with licenses to distribute systems with copy-protection? I smell another SCO-styled lawsuit. When will people learn? These chips could be valuable in the development of technology to prevent copy theft, and even then, since these chips are only being sold to licensed distributors, I see that the MPAA, or whoever is in charge of these licenses, could have simply yanked the licenses instead of wasting precious court time and money... that is, unless, the MPAA knew damn well they didn't have a case for revoking these licenses, so they figured they had better make an example of these companies by suing them for lost revenue. It's almost parallel to a police department charging another department for sending drugs or illegal firearms to a third party for analysis. It's totally trumped up! IANAL, but I think with these kinds of cases going around the block, I would like to be one! Lawyers are the only ones who profit from these hyped up dramas!

    --
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    1. Re:Lawyers Profit! by balls199 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually, regional DVD's aren't about price fixing as much as it has to do with selling rights. With most U.S. independent films, the producer sells the right to distribute his film in the U.S. at a loss to a distributer like Sony, but keeps the rights to sell the movie internationally. The producer doesn't make any money from U.S. sales, but makes at least enough to pay for the film on foriegn distribution. Regional DVD's were most likely developed to keep the distributer from competing with the producer. Thus, if you buy a region free DVD player, you're stealing from the producer, not the big bad distributer everyone is complaining about. For more information check out the book "From Reel to Deal" by Don S-S Simens.

    2. Re:Lawyers Profit! by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Not quite.

      Having worked at several law offices now I can tell you that that is not how things happen. I'm not saying that no one has ever been talked into doing something from a lawyer, but far more common are greedy clients who want to amass voluminous wealth through the court process. Lawyers are certainly responsible for a lot of these messes, but not because they talked people into filing the suit.

      --
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    3. Re:Lawyers Profit! by dirty · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Then they are entering into a bad business agreement. Explain how it's exactly wrong to import a DVD from Europe. I can drink imported beer, smoke imported cigarettes, wear imported clothes. Why not watch imported movies?

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      -matt
  2. Chips? *Cough* VLC and MPC *Cough* by Bonker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There are still people worrying with playback control on DVD players?

    Media Player Classic

    http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/

    VLC

    http://www.videolan.org/

    Pick yer platform

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  3. Sold to DVD Makers by SirLanse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who are these DVD makers and what models are they talking about. Pirating minds want to know.

    1. Re:Sold to DVD Makers by karlandtanya · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I just read the specs on a Momitsu V880. This is what all DVD players should be! (Except for the cheapass remote). Why do we settle for deliberately crippled hardware when there is something so much more functional. Probably doesn't cost any more to make, either--just different software/permissions.

      --
      "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
  4. Re:Insane. Absolutely Insane. by stratjakt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Huh?

    The MPAA owns CSS. They license it to these companies, and say "You can use our CSS stuff, but only sell it to people on this list". Sell outside the list, break the agreement, get sued. That's what's happening.

    This is more like Apple suing Real because Real is using Apple's DRM without Apple's permission, though that's not the same either, but it's closer.

    They've been selling these chips forever, and the MPAA has been happily collecting it's royalties for CSS. What I wonder is, why now?

    That is, is the REAL MONEY motivating this - that is, the electronics manufacturers who make approved DVD players?

    Sony's getting it's ass kicked in the market by WingWong's knockoff brand, because the knockoff isn't crippled. It may be a cheaper, lousier machine, but in the end - it plays that DVD your cousin Beauregard sent you from Region 5.

    Hmm.. Despite the rhetoric around here, the entertainment industry only makes pennies to the tech industries dollar. Sony (the maker of CD and DVD burners) is much much larger than Sony (the publisher of DVDs and PS2 games) - hence the 'paradox' that protects us. They will never lobby to outlaw recording and duplication tech, since that's which side their bread is buttered on.

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  5. I think this would make and interesting case by cmiller173 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What if you modify the hardware in such a way that it does not facilitate copying but does get around other "access controls". The last I checked even the DMCA does not guarantee the movie studios the right to create these little geographic monopolies called "regions". The problem is that most of the hacks to make a DVD player region free also disables macrovision as well. If someone were to hack the firmware of a player to enable region free access but left the macrovision copy protection in place(as long as were at it lets also disable the crap that keeps you from skipping past the FBI warning, etc) I think a good argument could be made that you in fact have not violated the DMCA.

  6. Re:No it's not by abbamouse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That part has never been tested in court. Actually, very little of the DMCA has been tested. If I recall, the only prosecution was that of Elcomsoft and they were acquitted. Would courts convict someone for giving a speech, writing a paper, or posting a mesage that informed people about how to bypass access controls? I suspect they wouldn't -- but until we know whether speech is considered a form of "trafficking" the chilling effect of the law will continue to be felt.

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