DVDs are a great idea. The capacity and features that they offer are marvellous. Apart from the double sided ones that you have to turn over half way through the movie, they suck, but that's beside the point. Some people like to play their movies on their computers. That's fine if you use Microsoft Windows (which I usually do, incidentally), or a Mac, but what if you use Linux, or FreeBSD, or Solaris, or BeOS? The motion picture industry doesn't seem to want to provide software for these people. So, what did they do? "They", meaning a small number of the most committed and talented of them, began to write their own software to play their DVD movies on the machines with DVD drives. The movie industry were delighted! Their market would be broadened to cover a slice of the population that habitually, nay reflexively, embraces new technology and likes to own the latest toys, so this would mean more DVD sales! LIKE HELL THEY WERE. They applied for a restraining order preventing dissemination or discussion of the DeCSS (Decrypt Content Scrambling System) software or related technologies, and gave the 500 or so defendants two days notice by email of the hearing on 29th December 1999. Fortunately, the Electronic Frontiers Foundation stepped in and provided lawyers and organised expert witnesses to conduct the defence, and the call went out for concerned citizens to show up at the hearing and show their support of the defendants. The judge rejected the request for a preliminary restraining order. Unfortunately, the second hearing for a temporary restraining order in January was upheld. So, it looks like the Motion Picture Association of America will get away with flouting the Berne copyright convention again.
Find Out More:
Linux
Video and DVD Project
OpenDVD.org
Electronic Frontiers
Foundation
slashdot.org DVD stories
10 Big Myths about copyright
explained
BERNE CONVENTION
FOR THE PROTECTION OF LITERARY AND ARTISTIC WORKS (Paris Text 1971)
John
J. Hoy's Reply Declaration to the Superior Court of the State of California,
County of Santa Clara with DeCSS source code censored
due to recently
discovered legislation.
DeCSS for Windows not available here due to
recently
discovered legislation.
CSS-Auth for Linux not available here due to
recently
discovered legislation.