DRM for xvid?

[Bear]

Hello, is there drm for xvid? I notice all drm are for wmv but I can't find any drm for xvid. If someone can give me more info, that would be great. Thanks.

[Gaia]

You can't put drm in avi files but i am not sure about mp4 container. Why you need DRM for your personal files? You can't use XviD for any commercial purposes.

[sysKin]

Originally posted by Gaia
You can't use XviD for any commercial purposes. Why not? If you pay mpeg-4 fees you can use XviD for any purposes. If you don't, you can't encode with xvid at all. Nothing special about commercial ones.

[temporance]

Originally posted by sysKin
Why not? If you pay mpeg-4 fees you can use XviD for any purposes. If you don't, you can't encode with xvid at all. Nothing special about commercial ones. Companies especially need to be very careful here and talk to their lawyers.

I agree to a point: If someone (or a company) pays for a special MPEG license then they can use xvid legally. This assumes MPEGLA will grant a special one-off license.

The crucial part is that only the person (or company) who was granted the license is allowed to use xvid. Distributing it to anyone else (e.g. the company's customers) will result in a conflict of obligations between the GPL (which requires unlimited onward royalty free distribution) and the MPEG license (which does not allow free onward distribution).

I don't really want to start a lengthy discussion: my main point is to check with your lawyer if you're thinking about using xvid in a commercial project.

IANAL

[crusty]

The crucial part is that only the person (or company) who was granted the license is allowed to use xvid. Distributing it to anyone else (e.g. the company's customers) will result in a conflict of obligations between the GPL (which requires unlimited onward royalty free distribution) and the MPEG license (which does not allow free onward distribution).

Does this only entail the codec or decoder, or is this also valid for MPEG-4 video?

Also, just because someone wants drm doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be used for commercial purposes...basically anything that's copyrighted could use drm, even if it's given away for free. Hell, even stuff that's not copyrighted could use drm, as long as there are no limitations on the way it can be distributed.

BTW, aren't there drm features in matroska?
Sounds logical..

[Neo Neko]

Originally posted by crusty
Does this only entail the codec or decoder, or is this also valid for MPEG-4 video?

Codec is a word derived from the base words code and decode. So it entails both of them. And there is licensing required for commercial distribution of MPEG4 data streams. As a private user or someone who does not derive proffit you are not obligated to license for streams. But you are required to license codecs still if the codec source did not do so already.

Originally posted by crusty
Also, just because someone wants drm doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be used for commercial purposes...basically anything that's copyrighted could use drm, even if it's given away for free. Hell, even stuff that's not copyrighted could use drm, as long as there are no limitations on the way it can be distributed.

Well living here we are threatened on a daily basis with DRM. Comapanies claiming that all their shortcomings are due to us the consumer and not their stupid decisions. So it is understandable that most people are put off by even hearing the word DRM. I think it is important to say that as things are today though DRM will only keep the honest honest. Anyone who wishes to can if they try hard enough effectively circumvent any current DRM scheme. Including that of the biggest DRM pundit Microsoft. Bypassing ASF DRM is more or less a joke. I will not go into details. But I have yet to find an ASF or WMV video that I have not been able to effectively decrypt. :D DRM not only puts a restriction on your perspective users. But it also restricts the possible types of users you can speak to. The negatives of DRM pretty much always outweigh the positives. Especially as a private user. If you want total control of usage and distribution the only way to ever achive this is not to distribute in the first place. Any commercial distribution is basically most proffitable when done without restrictions of DRM. And if you are a personal user simply looking to protect your data then GnuPG or PGP are excelent solutions.

[crusty]

Well living here we are threatened on a daily basis with DRM.
Yeah I know I follow the news about it in the US, especially now that the DMCA has made any attempt at circumvention illegal. That law should have never been passed in the first place, as it threatens personal freedom, scientific research, technical innovation, legitimate competition in a free market, and more, all in the name of the bank accounts of a handful of already filthy rich companies. And that's putting it mildly. :)
I think it is important to say that as things are today though DRM will only keep the honest honest.
Even worse, it will limit the fair use rights of honest people to an extent solely and completely arbitrarily based on the seller's decision, without any garantuee by law. If you want total control of usage and distribution the only way to ever achive this is not to distribute in the first place. Any commercial distribution is basically most proffitable when done without restrictions of DRM.
Agreed on the first but not the second. It's a matter of supply-side economics, which just about every big company strictly adheres to, to try to direct demand towards their products. Freedom or fair use rights don't matter in this respect, all that matters is restrictions on uncommercial reproduction or redistribution. That demand gets pissed of by this doesn't matter one damn bit in their POV, as it's the supply-side that makes the rules.
(of course, that supply-side economics are fundamentally flawed, and have been proven so again and again by high ranking economists doesn't matter in this view; economics is a matter of religion to these people, and their belief in their POV is just as dogmatic)