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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sunday 20 Apr 2003 2:41 pm, Julian Hall wrote: > Hi Neil, > > Thanks for that excellent explanation. However it highlights a gaping > (and IMHO fatal) flaw in the logic of those who deem it illegal. You are not the first! > To me that first sentence says it all. The copyright proprietor HAS > LICENSED this DVD for PRIVATE HOME USE only. > > Nothing anywhere about "You must have paid for the DVD player". I'm Exactly. The reason for the 'problem' is that being open source, there is (in their view) every reason to think that if you are allowed to use the open source driver you will inevitably adapt the driver to make multiple copies of the now unencrypted/unprotected data stream. The point about a paid DVD player is not the player as such but the closed-source driver within it. Whoever writes the player software presumably has to pay for the closed-source driver and that gets passed on. Being closed-source, it means the data stream (hopefully, in their view) shouldn't be easy to divert. As Adrian pointed out, there are huge flaws in that logic too. It is possible to do a bit-to-bit copy of any DVD (how else are they manufactured from the master??) and the copy will play on other players because the 'copy-protection' is also copied. The converse is not true - if the open source driver is used to create an 'unprotected' data stream, there's nothing to say that normal DVD players would be able to play it - cheap ones in particular may only be able to cope with the expected 'protected' format. > using it at home (in my bedroom in fact which hardly constitutes public > performance - even on a good day <LOL>). Therefore I am acting as (Home use does allow you to have a group of people watching - I don't know the limit but certainly a group of up to 7-10 cannot be unreasonable for some homes/films.) > specified by the copyright proprietors themselves and yet that is > illegal? Only because the companies assume that because you have the ability to change the code you will inevitably use that ability to distribute home copies - clearly something that is not covered under home use. The method used to create the driver is what has been pushed in the current case, but the principle of an open source driver itself doesn't break the law, it facilitates breaking the law. This is where the company argument fails - buying a can of beer is not illegal for me in the UK. Buying the same can in order to, say, pass on to a minor or drink whilst driving etc. - that is illegal. Using my own purchased car is not illegal. Using the same vehicle to break the speed limit or as an unlicenced taxi is illegal. The use of the item within the existing rules is not illegal but the item facilitates breaking the rules because it can be used in different ways. Banning the item is the wrong way to prevent some people ignoring the existing rules. Using the Linux code should not be illegal - the use of the code to produce copies is already illegal but much harder to prosecute. It's plainly obvious that children are obtaining cigarettes so someone must be breaking the law but in order to prosecute the last adult in the chain, the transaction must be witnessed in action - the same applies to illegal copies of other media already. The media companies involved with DVD would rather have a simpler offence and a higher chance of prosecution - they aren't bothered about the minority. > I'm betting a test case in court would slaughter the lack of logic this > law seems to be bending. Problem is that the law is being made to persecute the majority for the faults of a minority - there's always someone willing to make illegal copies even if the majority won't. Plus the companies will always end up hiring more expensive lawyers than anyone else. > PS I tried running PowerDVD via WINE. No joy, but I'm going to play a > hunch and I'll let you know how it works. BTW it's a licensed version > of PowerDVD that I *bought* :) Hmmm - just wondering if the PowerDVD licence (which no-one ever reads) actually allows you to do that. :-)) </Devil's Advocate mode> (Please be careful when quoting and delete the parts of the message that aren't relevant to your reply. Thanks. http://www.dclug.org.uk/wiki/?id=email+etiquette ) - -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.codehelp.co.uk http://www.dclug.org.uk http://www.wewantbroadband.co.uk/ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE+oyVNiAEJSii8s+MRAtr0AJ4++ixApXyvBJe5tSIk4npA8QIzJQCgmt/o DAGyxg1aea7oe5G0KswcoWg= =nD1y -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.