Newsletters
Facebook
RSS Feed
EH Store
Kaleidescape prevailed against the DVD CCA over a secondary contract-related issue. That decision was overturned on appeal. Now the real case heads to trial.
Even if Kaleidescape wins that case, however, the company is still vulnerable to lawsuits under the DMCA. The Real verdict seems to set a precedent that it is illegal to make DVD-copying products; however, that is only a single court’s opinion.
Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation tells Electronic House sister publication CE Pro:
The RealDVD ruling is not a binding precedent on anyone. Other judges can ignore it. However, it is likely to be persuasive to any judge evaluating a similar case. This is particularly true where there are relatively few precedents to draw on (which is true for the DMCA).
The Alternatives
Many manufacturers of DVD movie servers are playing it safe.
There’s a nifty “My Movies” tab for Windows Media Center, for example, but the customer must bring their own (probably illegal) DVD-ripping software to the party.
Companies like Crestron (ADMS), Imerge and Envive won’t let you copy DVDs directly to their hard drives. But as long as the consumer can find a way to get a ripped DVD onto the network, then it’s fair game.
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Dealers typically tell their customers: Do a Google search.
So consumers are encouraged –- by the MPAA and DVD CCA, essentially –- to buy their DVD-ripping software offshore from companies that don’t care about preserving CSS. Perhaps that is one of von Lohmann’s “Unintended Consequences” of the DMCA (below).
Interestingly, it’s not entirely clear about the ramifications for consumers who copy their DVDs. The Real decision only applies to “manufacturers or traffickers” of DVD copying devices, not to individuals that use the stuff.
EFF’s Required Reading
The same day (yesterday) that the RealDVD case was closed, the EFF’s von Lohmann issued the report, “Unintended Consequences: 12 Years Under the DMCA” (pdf).
This is the sixth update to the report, which “aims to catalog all the reported instances where the DMCA’s ban on tampering with DRM have been abused to stymie fair use, free speech, and competition, rather than to attack ‘piracy.’”
Von Lohmann writes:
Although in many cases the DMCA abuser backs down or is beaten in court, the abuses and resulting chilling effect on legitimate activities continues. And even though the U.S. Copyright Office is considering proposed exemptions to the DMCA, that proceeding won’t prevent more abuses in the future.
I concur- high profile (at least in electronics circles) cases like this take attention away from Torrent sites and other Peer-to-Peer platforms that blatantly promote illegal file sharing. Even when action is taken against them they stick around. Case in point: prison sentences and heavy fines were issued to founders of ThePirateBay and yet one of the biggest piracy sites remains active. This ruling was a huge disappointment.
They need to go after file sharing, instead of preventing users the freedom to view the movies they own on the device of their choice.
- News
- Cool Homes
- Blogs
- Photo Galleries
Automation System Recreates Fiji In Michigan Home
Home theater, automated lights and a high-tech fish tank.
Automation System Recreates Fiji In Michigan Home
Home theater, automated lights and a high-tech fish tank.
CEA: Home Tech is Helping the Housing Market
A new CEA study says that more builders are offering all types of technology.
A History of TV Remote Controls
It’s hard to imagine life without remote controls, but it’s been a long, strange path to the modern incarnation we know and love today.
I was an early adopter of DVDs back in the 90s, and have loved the format with one huge exception, damage to disks. I have an Escient media server linked to 3x400 disk Sony Changers and have about 1000 DVDs in my changers. I have DVD players around the house and in both cars. I also have 5 children. The lifespan of a DVD in a car with 5 kids is about 2-weeks.
If I’m paying for a “license” to use the movie the industry should be made to provide replacement copies at cost for damaged disks. Don’t I still own the license if my disk is scratched?
A few years back I tried out several commercial DVD / copy software packages. All worked well, but all were sued into backruptcy by the MPAA. I stopped buying commercial backup software because my money was going to the MPAA. For over 50 years, the music / movie industries have opposed “fair use”. Did you know that the 78rpm records were “licenced” so the manufacture could recall all copies of the recording if ticket sales to concerts dropped? That’s how far back the paranoia has roots. 8-Tracks, cassette tapes, vhs, dat, dvd, have all suffered similar fates. Blu-ray will supposedly begin letting you make 1 copy, but the software has not been released yet. I’ll believe it when I see it.
The legal answer is simple: stop buying DVDs. Go to the library, get Netflix, etc. Take money out of their pockets. I have not bought a kids DVD in over 3 years. I get them from the library, or make an analog recording (to DVD) from TV, Netflix, or On-demand.
The other answer: use illegal software. For a while I used a Linux-based bit copy program that was fantastic. I wanted to use legal software and make legal copies, but the MPAA did everything possible to make that impossible for me. It is perfectly legal for me to make a copy of my DVDs for my use!!!
The scales of justice are not supposed to hold piles of money.
Good luck Kaleidescape I hope you’ve gouged your users enough to pay for your litigation! You weren’t give any other option.