The MPAA Speaks. WTF?!

[indolikaa]

(from foxnews.com)

Rich Taylor, a spokesman for the MPAA, scoffs at such charges.

"There's no desire to crush people's civil rights," he countered. "The DMCA is not something that was chiseled in some back room in Hollywood and thrust upon the populace. It was carefully contemplated and negotiated with Congress, the software industry, the music industry, librarians and ISPs."

In some respects, however, the entertainment industry's approach and attitude are radical. Taylor sees neither the DeCSS T-shirt, or third-party Web links that lead indirectly to the code, as speech protected by the First Amendment (search).

"Cleverness is not an excuse for breaking the law," he said. "When you publish the DeCSS code and make a link to it, you know what you're doing."

As to whether the code itself is harmful, Taylor is adamant.

"Publishing DeCSS code is like passing out codes to bank vaults, or nuclear launch codes," he said. "It's like handing out keys to people's houses."

Equating DeCSS and nuclear launch codes?! What the **** is wrong with this guy's mentality?!

Unbelievable.

[GizmoTheGremlin]

"Publishing DeCSS code is like passing out codes to bank vaults, or nuclear launch codes," he said. "It's like handing out keys to people's houses."

I've read some pretty bad comparisons in this forum, but I think this one takes the cake.

To anyone who wants to read the entire article: Click Here

It seems like the media lately has been kinda negative toward the MPAA/RIAA.

[Gazorgan]

Putting 12 year olds on TV commercials after busting them will do that to the media.

The Media isn't interested in facts, they are interested in ratings! Look at the Superbowl. One of the best games in years and all anyone can talk about is Janet Jackson's boobage. Big deal, she makes a living topless, just Google Janet Jaclson Boob and there are 1000's of hits for past performances and videos. The Media didn't mention P Diddy talking and guns and drugs at a halftime show (incredibley offensive). The Media didn't talk about how close the game was (in fact I haven't seen squat in the mainstream press about the actual game).

How many times does someone have to point out that DeCSS isn't the issue. How simple DeCSS is is the issue. All the hype to the studios about protecting their property and some Teenager cracks it so he can watch DVD's on a Linux box. The next generation of DVD's will get cracked even faster. There simply isn't a way to have settop and software DVD2 players that are secure. Once they realize that,a nd change the business model, then things should go a lot better for them

I mean come on. Quite a few movies make as much money in cable/DVD sales as in Theater release (no sharing with the theaters). These are the ones that 'Suck'.

[Moloko_Plus]

Well said. Obviously the world cares about that ugly slag more then a game anyway. I didnt much care to watch the superbowl, i was too busy with other things. But man, she is friggen ugly, her and her pedophile deranged brother Jacko. Why was justin timberStupidyhead even there in the first place?

[lordsmurf]

DeCSS has no analogy. I can't think of one at all. Certainly not one as stupid as that one from the MPAA.

[Ausar]

DeCSS

Deeming
Every
Consumer
Seriously
Stupid

[ShavenYak]

(from foxnews.com)

Equating DeCSS and nuclear launch codes?! What the **** is wrong with this guy's mentality?!

Unbelievable.

I can't help but chuckle that you made this observation, considering your .sig!

(I, myself, will immediately remove DVD Shrink from my hard drive, now that I've seen the light. I had no idea MILLIONS of people could DIE HORRIBLY because I'm copying DVDs! I'm so glad Mr. Taylor has pointed out the error of my ways.)

[energy80s]

So is DeCSS now a WMD? This has the whiff of Bush & Blair behind it!

[hech54]

HEY HEY.....George W. Bush is my Zero.

[triphop]

This website and everyone on it are terrists because of the traffic in devices and knowledge similar to nuclear launch codes. Be warned.

[BJ_M]

i understand they had to simplify the nuclear launch codes to:

'A' is for Apple
'B' is for Boy
'C' is for Cat
'1,2' buckle my shoe
'3,4' start a war

[housepig]

"It's like handing out keys to people's houses."

actually, no... publishing the DeCSS code is like handing someone a picture of a key to your house, and telling them to go make one.

so if I put a picture of a key on my t-shirt, I'm breaking and entering? [/i]

[indolikaa]

If somebody started a poll ( ) and the topic of the poll was the funniest thread ever on dvdrhelp.com ( ) my vote would be this one, or the thread where defense talked about using profanity with class.

I can't help but chuckle that you made this observation, considering your .sig!

(I, myself, will immediately remove DVD Shrink from my hard drive, now that I've seen the light. I had no idea MILLIONS of people could DIE HORRIBLY because I'm copying DVDs! I'm so glad Mr. Taylor has pointed out the error of my ways.)

It makes communism look subtle, doesn't it?

.indolikaa.
Protecting Our Rights through Mutually-Assured Decryption

[KetchSumAir]

My background:

About 1 year ago, I was in CompUSA looking at "DVDCopy?" . It said I could make copies of a DVD to a CD without loosing quality. Well, it was a lie, but I knew then that if this technology was possible - to copy DVDs - then it wouldn't be available for long. So, I spent the $$.

One year later (now), I've finally figured out, and automated, my own VHS to DVD flow. I can now get excellent results, with a minimum amount of time per tape. As far as the DVDs go, I can easily back those up as well.

I've been able to do this because of this, and other forums. It's nice that DVDRHelp.com exists - you all have made my job much easier.

However, I doubt I'll do this all over again when the next format comes. The thing is - VHS tape quality is so - so. DVD quality is good. HD-DVD (probably comparable to HDTV) will be fantastic. However, I don't have the energy to keep fighting the MPAA, RIAA, and others. I'm actually quite content to keep the audio and video collection I have now. For me, songs and movies and games are not worth buying unless I can always have them, which neccecitates backup. If anyone here has been watching the HDTV scene, you know that the MPAA and others are trying their best to prevent us from even time-shifting (unless of course you want to be forced to watch all those commercials!).

Since most of the new movies coming out of Hollywood these days are garbage, the only way I see them is to buy the DVDs cheap (less than $15), or go to the "dollar movies" on the nights it only costs US$0.50 per person to watch.

Most everyone here realizes the MPAA and RIAA is lieing about piracy. It is my opinion they are doing this to slowly move society to accept a monthly subscription for movies. In the future, if the MPAA, etc have their way, each time you view a movie, you will have to pay for it. It will be cheaper than renting - perhaps US$1 per view or so. This will buy them stablility. The cell phone companies and satellite dish companies are making really good profits doing this already. This will be percieved as a good thing on Wall Street (and other financial markets around the world). Plus, anyone that has a kid will be paying good $$ to the movie studios. Small kids tend to like to watch things over, and over, and over......So, the only people standing in the way is the type of people that visit these forums. In my opinion, we're the real enemy, not the pirates, as we would never accept this way of "selling" movies - and we have the means to prevent it - at least right now.

In the future, our voices will look like the voices of pirates, if the MPAA and others get their way. If this does happen, I'll take to other hobbies that will be less prone to this type of thing (non-computer related).

If you think the MPAA pushed hard before releasing titles to DVD, think again. The MPAA will fight so hard as to make the RIAA proud this next time. The reason is: HD-DVD will be the last major quality improvement before 80% or more of the consumers will be satified, and will resist changes as it will be perceived to not buy them anything. If it wasn't for the US government forcing HDTV down everyone's throats by 2007?, the MPAA would have a much harder time even selling HD-DVD. NTSC signal reigned supreme for what - 50+years (I apologize, I don't know when the last ratification was made). HDTV (ATSC) will also have a very long life. This is what, primarily, makes these next few years of legal battles EXTREMELY important - to all sides of this argument.

So, if you're gonna fight this, inform all you know of this now, 'cause it's likely to be much harder to fight in the future if the MPAA and RIAA and others keep winning the good graces of politicians around the world.

[indolikaa]

A pretty fair analysis.


And I don't care how glamorous the technology becomes. For some lobbyist to compare the country's need to protect it's copyrighted works to the country's needs to protect it's nuclear launch capability is horseshit.

Which are you more worried about? Terrorists getting their hands on DeCSS, or terrorists getting their hands on functioning nuclear weapons?

Maybe I need to contact Mr. Taylor and explain it to him in a way he can understand. Does my health insurance cover the removal of my foot from somebody's ass?!

[Jimmykicker]

However, I don't have the energy to keep fighting the MPAA, RIAA, and others.

You may not, but I can guarantee you that there are people out there that always will have that energy and I don't foresee the day when these corporations will have enough smarts, power, and money to put the lock on piracy. There will always be people out there smarter than they are, more powerful than them, and with more avaliable resources...

[sacajaweeda]

Wasn't it some kid somewhere sitting around smacking the shift key on his keyboard that broke their encryption in the first place?

[Pakled]

You may not, but I can guarantee you that there are people out there that always will have that energy and I don't foresee the day when these corporations will have enough smarts, power, and money to put the lock on piracy....

It's not so much that people out here are smarter than the corporations, it's more likely that the people out here ENJOY the challenge of what they are doing. The big-wheels in the corportations are not the ones coming up with the code for DeCSS, it's the programmer down in the trenches working for "barely above the poverty line" wages to feed his/her family that is coming up with it. You think that person cares enough about the code to make it full-proof? The people out here aren't getting paid to do this, they're doing this because they have a goal, and they enjoy reaching it. That will always win out over the former any day. Desire and determination are what bring in results. Problem is that eventually the big-wheel's desire and determination may force them to pay someone someday enough money to cme up with an "unbreakable" code. When they do I'll ask my 5 year old and his hamster to pound on the keyboard until they break it. :P
Pakled