Feds Continue To Consider Linux Users Criminals For Watching DVDs

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Feds Continue To Consider Linux Users Criminals For Watching DVDs

Posted by Unknown on Thursday October 25, 2012 @11:00AM from the don't-watch-that-movie-you-paid-for dept.

An anonymous reader sent in a link to an article in Wired about the latest DMCA loophole hearing. Bad news: the federal government rejected requests that would make console modding and breaking DRM on DVDs to watch them legal. So, you dirty GNU/Linux hippies using libdvdcss better watch out: "Librarian of Congress James Billington and Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante rejected the two most-sought-after items on the docket, game-console modding and DVD cracking for personal use and 'space shifting.' Congress plays no role in the outcome. The regulators said that the controls were necessary to prevent software piracy and differentiated gaming consoles from smart phones, which legally can be jailbroken. ... On the plus side, the regulators re-authorized jailbreaking of mobile phones. On the downside, they denied it for tablets, saying an 'ebook reading device might be considered a tablet, as might a handheld video game device.'" So you can jailbreak a phone, but if it's 1" larger and considered a "tablet" you are breaking the law.

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12 days til we toss out the Bush Administration by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-25 11:04 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm sure hoping for some good changes.
1. Re:12 days til we toss out the Bush Administration by SolitaryMan · 2012-10-25 12:00 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Bush wasn't just corrupt, he was stupid as hell.
  
  --
  May Peace Prevail On Earth
2. Re:12 days til we toss out the Bush Administration by AntiBasic · 2012-10-25 14:36 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  He was the never the president of all 57 states like Obaaaaama.
3. Re:12 days til we toss out the Bush Administration by houghi · 2012-10-25 19:03 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I hate the Democrats AND the republicans. Well, honestly, I hate the fact that there is no alternative. Not really.
  And if there was, they would make a mess as well.
  
  --
  Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
4. Re:12 days til we toss out the Bush Administration by dywolf · 2012-10-26 00:38 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Oh please. That nonsense has to stop. You may not agree but that doesnt make him stupid. Opinions dont rate that judgement. And a man that first goes to Yale and then to Harvard Business School, and gets an MBA from same, is about as far from "stupid" as you can get. You also dont get elected to play on the national stage, first as Governor of one of the biggest states in teh country, and than as president, twice, if you're "stupid".
  I get it. You dont like the guy. I didnt vote for him either. But your bias is overcoming your rationality.
  
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  The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
5. Re:12 days til we toss out the Bush Administration by omnichad · 2012-10-26 01:36 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Thanks for being the one to say it. Although it stands to reason that you might be able to fail your way through the Ivy League with enough money. Being President is a tough job. A president goes in for 4 years and comes out looking 15 years older. Unless you're Obama. Then you've suddenly got time for appearances on late night TV on a very regular basis. Any vote is a throwaway vote this year, except for local elections.
Re:SNAFU by Dyinobal · 2012-10-25 11:16 · Score: 5, Funny

Damn I hope they do this because then I can get some agricultural tax breaks and government assistant to subsidize my ever growing ebook collection.
Re:They told me... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-25 11:19 · Score: 5, Funny

Hey guys, America's new emperor is here!
But seriously, what's a Linux article doing on Slashdot? This is a Microsoft and Apple site now. We don't need any distractions from our marketing messages.
Re:They told me... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-25 11:41 · Score: 5, Funny

But things aren't as simple as THAT and you know it. But I guess if you want to post hyperbole as an AC, you may well be better served by... oh cool, we don't have to finish sentences around here!
Re:the govt does not have any room to talk by Lumpy · 2012-10-25 11:58 · Score: 3, Funny

Please drop it Gov Romney, nobody believes you. and shouldn't you be out trying to get votes instead of trolling?

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Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Re:duh by Lumpy · 2012-10-25 11:59 · Score: 1, Funny

I thought the FBI was there to catch real criminals and solve real crime, not be the enforcement arm of the corporations.

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Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Re:They told me... by dywolf · 2012-10-26 00:19 · Score: 3, Funny

I love how people like to rag on abstinance, when in the history of the world it's only failed once.

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The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.