The mp3 and DeCSS problems are different... On Wed, 2010-05-26 at 00:00 +0200, Conscious User wrote: > > The problem with DVDs compared to MP3s is that they require paying for > > DVD playback and for MP3s you get 100 free licences so unless you are > > going for a huge deployment your not braking any laws. > > So DVD playback is pay per licence but MP3 is 100 free so its fine in > > most cases.
That isn't the problem, this is a rendition of what I know: There is some mathematical process which has been parented for which encoding and decoding mp3s requires. No one can check to see if any of the libraries we use actually infringe on the patents because of triple damages if you know about patents, but we have it on trust that it's likely alas wholly unscientific with no evidence. But those patents will run out in a few years so sit and wait for gif time (gif files used to be in the same boat but the patents ran out). being hauled into court over patents is a civil matter, not criminal. DeCSS on the other hand is a process of encryption which is applied to almost all DVD videos. If you get a dvd without encryption then ubuntu will quite happily play it with nothing more than mpeg2 and aac codecs (e.g. ffmpgeg). In order to decrypt the dvd you need a key from the DVD Forum who are naturally a bit protective of their incredibly weak DRM, in fact it's so weak that a European court couldn't really class it as DRM encryption for prosecution. DeCSS can be decrypted using libdvdcss which either breaks the encryption or uses stolen keys. Yay! Since the DMCA makes it a criminal offense (not civil) to decrypt data in this manner (with jail time of 10 years) it's no wonder that Canonical and other developers are hesitant about releasing it. Apparently there are clauses in the US DMCA which allow reverse engineering for the purpose of compatibility, a safe harbor which is too weak to protect libdvdcss according to those in the know. The EUCD (the European version of the DMCA) doesn't have this protection and thus makes it moot. The EUCD and the DMCA together make libdvdcss quite criminal in almost every part of the world worth doing business. Unlike patents this problem will never run out and the only real way to solve it is to send your representatives letters and such until the laws are changed or convince the DVD Forum to stop abusing the power which makes open source impossible. Again I'm not a lawyer in any way, I just read Groklaw and this is as far as I understand the situation. Martin, _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
