Distributed DVD Back-up Solution?
SoBeIcedT asks: "I just bought the third season of 24 [fox.com] on DVD and have begun to back it up to DVD+R using DVD-Shrink on Windows XP. Being the gadget loving guy I am, it makes sense that I would have multiple computers. The trouble is I can't make use of all of those CPU cycles and they go to waste. Is there a way (perhaps using clusterKnoppix or something of the sort) that I can easily use all of the processor power in my home to transcode the DVDs?" dvd::rip is one option that has clustering support. Are there any others?
Seems to me from the series, they could transcode a DVD in about 30ms...
Distributed DVD Back-up Solution?
It's called "BitTorrent". It even backs-up DVDs you haven't bought yet.
1. Is it unambiguisly illegal to backup a DVD in the US?
Not only is it not unambiguously illegal back up a DVD in the US, the unclarity of the unambiguousness of the activity of the unambiguous illegallity of backing up a DVD in the US makes people's head hurt when they try to fathom some wanker using double negatives when asking about the unambiguous illegallity of backing up a DVD in the US!
Is admitting wrong-doing on Slashdot admissible in court?
Probably not.
The thing is that actually making a backup is not illegal, in any way, shape, or form. It's not even illegal to *own* something that will perform a backup. What's illegal (more or less) is importing or selling a device (whether hardware or software) that will make a backup, or (as interpreted by Judge Kaplan) telling someone where to find a device that will make a backup.