[Arky]

Originally posted by Doom9
[BNow, as for CSS descrambling being legal or not, we have the 2600 case (I'm not sure if a 2nd appeal has been made) but as things stand right now CSS descrambling is effectively illegal in the US and I'm sure the court will consider that previous decision. However, that hasn't stopped DeCSS or its successors from spreading wide. And once the data is decrypted the DCMA no longer applies (but copyright law still does). [/B]

Something no-one ever seems to mention is that simply using encyption does not automatically imbue any encrypted material with instant illegal-to-backup status - (alleged) copyright infringement and decryption are two different things, and should be argued as such. I am not denying the rights the MPAA have to protect their copyrighted property - I'm simply arguing, like everyone else, for the right to 'Fair Use' backups , should the worst happen. I have a DVD burner that can knock out a full DVD+R in under 15minutes, yet I still regularly buy new DVDs from Play.com etc. I'm not ripping anybody off. If I spend $2,000 on DVDs (more than most people will spend in their lifetime, but nothing for an enthusiast, over the course of a few years - I already have several hundred CDs, although I am no rich man), then surely I should have the right to protect my investment just as much as the MPAA wish to protect theirs?

The MPAA are clearly absolutely desperate to pursue alternative angles, where they have failed previously. I get so angry when I see this arguement that it is categorically illegal to decrypt. Let's just say, hypothetically, that I wasn't bothered about menus or navigation, and went down the (admittedly technically inferior) route of using screencapture software clever enough to cope with the video overlay used during playback of DVD video on a PC. In such an instance, I'd be using perfectly legal 'decryption' of the video stream, using, say PowerDVD or WinDVD, for example. Do you think the MPAA would leave me alone? No, they'd then find some other angle to prevent me from making a legitimate backup copy of the material I have 'licensed' from them for my viewing pleasure.

I'd really like to see the MPAA offer every customer of every MPAA DVD disk, throughtout the corners of the globe, the right to a replacement disk, free of charge, should I accidentally crack or irreparably scratch one of my disks. I've paid for the right to view that material for the rest of my life, and damaging my disk does not mean that my life has ended, or that I have ceased to hold a valid 'viewing license' for said material.

The MPAA would change their tune VERY quickly if the courts said "ok, we'll totally outlaw home-made backups, but in return you, the MPAA, must undertake to replace all damaged disks brought to you by your customers". The public would have a field day, taking all their damaged disks back and making the MPAA whince with the material cost of it all.

The MPAA can't have it both ways - it's just bully-boy big-corporation tactics.

I wonder if they keep backup copies of their master tapes? I rather suspect they do!

What I find most interesting is the fact that in the last 12months or so, Steinberg (now owned by Pinnacle, of course) have released a product which does everything to assist in the making of backup copies, save for decrypting them. Is this, perhaps, why the MPAA have taken their current line of attack? Perhaps they only like to bully the small-fry companies, such as 321.

On a final note, one other point which really pi$$e$ me off, is that these big U.S. corporations also arrogantly assume that once they get a U.S. court ruling in their favour, they can then apply it, with bully tactics, to the rest of the world. Arrogant just doesn't do them justice!


Arky ;o)