COURT RULES AGAINST USE OF PROGRAM THAT UNLOCKS DVD ENCRYPTI

[randallc]

The Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA) has prevailed in the U.S. Court of Appeals against a computer hacker publication's claim to have the right to publish a program that used reverse-engineering to unlock the copyright protection system of DVDs. At issue was the constitutionality of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, which was challenged by programmer Eric Corley, who publishes the hacker magazine 2600. Corley and his supporters, which include the Washington-based civil liberties group called the Electronic Frontier Foundation, believe that the DMCA gives too much power to copyright-holders and violates First Amendment rights of researchers and consumers. (New York Times 29 Nov 2001)

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/29/technology/29DVD.html

Randy

[DiViNeLeFT]

ok, i read the article and i dont understand what the hell happend... does this mean we are going to see programs like smartripper become illegal... or are they just one step closer? lol, i wish they wouldnt be so vague with shit and just tell what is goin on.

[randallc]

Here's the full article:

November 29, 2001





2 Copyright Cases Decided in Favor of Entertainment Industry

By JOHN SCHWARTZ

he entertainment industry won two closely watched cases yesterday that pit owners of copyrighted works against the people who develop technologies that can be used to copy those works.

Both cases involve challenges to a 1998 federal copyright law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which strengthened the hand of artists and other copyright holders in order to curb piracy of music, film and other works. Critics of the law have said that it gave too much power to the industries at the expense of consumers and limited First Amendment rights of researchers.

In one case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan ruled in favor of the Motion Picture Association of America in its lawsuit against Eric Corley and his hacking-oriented publication, 2600, over Mr. Corley's decision to publish a program that could be used to unlock the copyright protection system for DVD's. That decision affirmed an order of Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of United States District Court last year that prohibited publication of the software and even publishing online links to the software. Mr. Corley and his supporters said that the copyright act and the judge's injunction unconstitutionally restricted speech rights.

"I'm not chortling or anything," Jack Valenti, president and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America, said yesterday, "but I've been confident from the very start that copyright — which is in Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution itself — is indispensable to the country."

Mr. Corley said that he disagreed with the appeals court's decision, and that he would discuss the next step with his lawyers. "We have to decide what the responsible thing to do is," he said. But he added, "I'm not inclined to stop fighting this thing."

In the other case, a Federal District Court judge in Trenton dismissed a lawsuit brought by an associate professor at Princeton, Edward W. Felten; the professor had argued that the Recording Industry Association of America threatened him with lawsuits in order to keep him from presenting his research into ways that a digital copyright protection system can be broken.

The recording industry later backed down from suing Professor Felten, and so Judge Garrett E. Brown concluded yesterday that there was nothing at issue in the case.

"We are happy that the court recognized what we have been saying all along: there is no dispute here," Cary Sherman, senior executive vice president for the recording industry group, said in a statement. "Professor Felten is free to publish his findings."

Mark Lemley, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley who has followed the case closely, said yesterday, "it's not a real victory" for the industry because the case was not decided on the question of what would happen if companies carried through their threats of lawsuits.

A lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a high-technology civil liberties group, called the two decisions "a double whammy."

Cindy Cohn, the legal director for the group, said "I think we're all going to be poorer for it," because the entertainment industries can use the law to squelch innovation. "Anyone who wants to develop a new tool for us, the next VCR or the next MP3 player, will not be able to develop or promote this product unless Hollywood says it's O.K.," she said.

[mijman]

Get your proggies now, while they're still legal :>

[d4n13l]

I dont think that any US courts have juristication outside of the US. Also, I dont think that 2 lawsuits in the US makes international law... as of yet anyway.
Another thing, it will just all go underground anyway.

[nfl2k2]

oh well, I've got the latest dvd2svcd setup file backed up, they can do all they want now.

[pinoy2201]

SmartRipper id going to be illegal that is B.S. I wish that these people see that most of the peple here are just backing up there DVDs and if there soo upset about all this shit why dont they try to make some time on improving there copy protection

[xzarkad]

Please wake up.........

the world is bigger that the U.S. There is no law against a program like Smartripper in Europe.....and as far as I know: WWW stand for "world wide web". This means you can download the program (maybe in the future) through another link.
I hope that no-one assumes that WWW stand for: Wunited Wtates Web, because it really sounds like it when I read this topic. (if a program would be forbidden in -let's say- Germany, will you also panic?)

[Greg12]

Perhaps the MPAA would get their heads out of their fat asses and relieze the reason their is so much piricy is that the price of DVD's are to high.

If DVD's were reasonably priced, their would be less ripping.

And how come no one argues about the law giving owner's the right to one backup copy of stuff u buy.

and what about fair use?

[pinoy2201]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-11-29 17:03:59, Greg12 wrote:
Perhaps the MPAA would get their heads out of their fat asses and relieze the reason their is so much piricy is that the price of DVD's are to high.

If DVD's were reasonably priced, their would be less ripping.

And how come no one argues about the law giving owner's the right to one backup copy of stuff u buy.

and what about fair use?
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

yup if they only lower prices people would buy the origanal..if the price of a DVD is 5-10 doloars i would buy it...a DVD Dic is less then 5 bucks sooo dont know why they charge soo much

[adamthole]

Profit, aka $. They would probably lose more if they lowered their prices, than if they do to bootleggers. In all reality, not that many people know about Smart Ripper, etc. Very few, I am the only one at school who even knew what a VCD is. By suing, and taking this public, they are gonna make a name for themsleves, and it is gonna become big...that is in a worst case scenario, though.

BTW, if they sold DVD's for 5 dollars, there really wouldnt be much profit going on, would there? There is mor than the cost of the disc, there is paying the creators, the tools used to make it, cases, paper, advertising, etc. Personally I donot think DVD's are badly priced...compared to VHS, that is. VHS is priced way too high for the POS that they are.

[Bud]

It appears it has started already. I attempted to download the latest version of Smartripper (1.40) the site had a warning message about the use of DCSS type software. Looks like NAPSTER all over again......"COURT RULES AGAINST USE OF PROGRAM THAT UNLOCKS DVD ENCRYPTION"

[pinoy2201]

that warning was ther a very long time ago

[Greg12]

I don't mean drop the prices to 5-10 but like 15 to 20.

[d4n13l]

Just out of interest, how much do DVDs cost in the US on average. Not from online but from normal shops.
?

[SlamminMOFO]

Average is about 15-20 now in the US for new releases

[d4n13l]

Average in UK is £15-£20
If average in US is $15 - $20, then you guys have a much better deal!

[pinoy2201]

Mostly new releases cost about 20-25 dollars

[Zer0XeS]

I dont know how anyone can be that upset over such a trivial little article. I wouldnt care if the Supreme Court ruled against DVD Decrypting. The "tools" are already loose and freely available. They've never shut down the "underground scene" or "black market" before, and they never will. I, for one, am concerned about more important issues, like the real crises' going on overseas.

[SlamminMOFO]

Pinoy, Try best buy for new releases. youll never pay that much. Star Wars Episode 1 is 14.99

[Bullworth]

I would but DVDs more often but I like alot of anime and most of it is pretty pricey even online.
Damn d4n13l, that's kinda highj. I don't know what the current exchange rate is but that must UK DVDs at about 30 to 40 USD

[pinoy2201]

nope in my area best buy sells them from $20-$25...this suks

[bachkhoa]

These programs won't go away, but will grow bigger. DVD Ripper=CD Ripper. MP3 is still alive isn't it? I'm happy with this thought :]

[pinoy2201]

have you guys heard about this soo called PoliceWare they want to put on computers..they say if you do any thing illeagl the police will be a your house in inutes...if they are going to put it that an invasion of Privacy and that BS

[kinneera]

The ruling in favor of allowing that particular policeware was extremely limited. It pertains to the legality of allowing federal law enforcement to target specific suspects in cases involving (possible) crimes much more significant than copying DVDs. In fact, it requires physical entry of the premises to install it on the target computer, so I wouldn't be too worried - I have this sneaky suspicion the the FBI doesn't have the resources to break into millions of residences just to combat DVD copying.

[ember]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-12-01 12:10:47, Bullworth wrote:
I would but DVDs more often but I like alot of anime and most of it is pretty pricey even online.
Damn d4n13l, that's kinda highj. I don't know what the current exchange rate is but that must UK DVDs at about 30 to 40 USD
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>
d4n131 is right- in the UK, DVDs are priced £15-25 ($20-35). CD-Audio is £10-15. To think that CD-Audio contains about 1/7 the data than DVD and fewer ppl have worked in its make/creation I would say not only are DVDs a rip-off over in the UK but CD-Audio is daylight robbery. Prices of these goods are the highest in Europe.

[KingJohn]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-12-01 21:18:22, kinneera wrote:
The ruling in favor of allowing that particular policeware was extremely limited. It pertains to the legality of allowing federal law enforcement to target specific suspects in cases involving (possible) crimes much more significant than copying DVDs. In fact, it requires physical entry of the premises to install it on the target computer, so I wouldn't be too worried - I have this sneaky suspicion the the FBI doesn't have the resources to break into millions of residences just to combat DVD copying.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Heck, there is a usfull tool to get rid of that program, Its called "Add remove" find it or any spy's with http://www.lavasoftusa.com

[zzyzzx]

[VidGuy]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-11-30 20:09:31, SlamminMOFO wrote:
Average is about 15-20 now in the US for new releases
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not sure where you are in the U.S. but the average is more toward 22-27 where I'm at. It's true you can find some online or pre-order for 15-20, and some of the really big names can be had for cheaper, but if you go to a retail store like Tower or Target you'll see many more 24.99 - 29.99.

[d4n13l]

"CD-Audio is daylight robbery."
That is true. I can order CDs from the US cheaper than I can buy them from the damn shops in this country, that is including the £2-3 air mail charge as well!
...and PETROL! HA! My car still runs on 4 STAR, damn stuff in Cornwall is like 77p a litre! Price of liquid gold.