[NTLUG:Discuss] MI2 boycott

[Steve Baker]

travis.farral at nokia.com wrote:

>  Now sure, DeCSS *does* allow
> one to illegally copy DVD's and I'm sure many have used it for that.

I don't think that's true. DeCSS decrypts the DVD - and the decrypted
movie is far to big to copy *anywhere*.  If you wanted to copy a DVD,
the last thing you'd want is DeCSS making the file ten times larger!

>  But my
> questions are:  Does that mean that the MPAA was right in denying those that
> run Linux access to DVD's they purchased?  Do you HONESTLY think that
> someone else wouldn't have written a similar program to DeCSS eventually
> that would have had the sole purpose of copying illegal DVD's?

Well, the DeCSS author was dead lucky. The deal is that each manufacturer
of DVD players is given some kind of digital 'key' to unlock the DVD
encryption.  They are supposed to encrypt the key itself in some manner
to prevent things like DeCSS from being written.

The author of DeCSS (by pure luck I think) came across an obscure brand
of player in which the 'key' had not been encrypted - and that allowed him
to write DeCSS.

This came close to being an impossible task.

>  Do you think
> that DeCSS will honestly make an impact on DVD sales?

Sure - it'll increase them because Linux Users can now watch them.

>  Remember that most
> VHS tapes have no copy-protection at all and they sell just fine even with
> the existence of dual deck VHS player/recorders.

Yes - but the issue here is that VHS copies are pretty badly degraded
in quality - but DVD copies would (hypothetically) be perfect because
they are digital.

Since a DVD produces better quality (analog) video than a VHS player,
you can still pirate them onto VHS tapes - and get less degradation
than a VHS-to-VHS copy.

A better analogy is CD-audio copying using a CD-writer.
 
> I see your point about the law being the law and the MPAA is only trying to
> protect it's resources.  But I see it much like the RIAA and their MP3
> witch-hunt.  They continue to complain about copyright infringement and yet
> the very technology they chastize is causing them to have record CD sales.

Yes - but it's their legal right to be stupid.  :-)

> Wouldn't it have been better for the MPAA to *work* with the Linux community
> and enjoy the benefits of broadening their target audience and increasing
> sales instead of going with persecution instead?

Sure - except that they get a license fee from DVD player manufacturers
which an opensourced DVD player software package would circumvent...and
there is still the issue of the region-code stuff that prevents grey-imports.
This would be circumvented by a widely circulated OpenSource DVD decoder.
 
> Of course, all the above comments reflect *my* point of view and it may not
> necessarily be yours.  In the whole scheme of things, I'm sure that neither
> really amounts to much.  The courts will decide... life will go on... DVD's
> will be sold.

Yep. That's the truth.
 
-- 
Steve Baker                  http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
sjbaker1 at airmail.net (home)  http://www.woodsoup.org/~sbaker
sjbaker at hti.com      (work)