On 20 Mar 2001, at 18:42, Nathan Russell wrote:
> <nitpick> The embedded program is a version of DeCSS, a program for
> cracking the CSS encryption scheme. </nitpick>
Oops, my mistake, sorry! Forgive my ignorance, I'm not much
interested in movies...
>
> Slashdot takes a particular interest in this program because many of
> their editors and members believe that CSS is an infringment of civil
> rights - specifically, their right to play DVDs on the operating
> system of their choice.
And I agree. Totally. I thought there was also a problem that DVD
movies are offered later and at higher prices in some markets,
therefore CSS is seen as an infringement of consumer's rights to buy
a product in the cheapest market.
>
> Of course, (in theory) that could be seen as a disproof of all
> copyright - there's nothing that does not already exist. Of course,
> thinking of the number of possible English phrases - never mind books,
> or images - is a fairly easy way to come up with numbers that dwarf
> the Mersennes.
Nevertheless I have demonstrated a (for the time being, impractical -
but roll on quantum computing) _purely mechanical_ way of generating
all that content; this nullifies the whole idea of "intellectual
property", and the legal concept of copyright that goes with it.
>
> Here, at least, it is, due to a particularly idiotic law known as the
> Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which essentially says that evading
> copy-protection measures is itself a crime - regardless of whether
> copyright is actually broken.
>
> I might note that it's impossible to encrypt something so it cannot be
> copied exactly; even now, it is very common for pirate DVD
> manufacturers to simply copy the original disc byte for byte, without
> even needing to crack the encryption.
I guess everyone who has a copy of the "copy" utility on their
DOS/Windows system, or "cp" on a linux box, had better pack their
toothbrush. See you all in jail!
>
> Unfortunately for them, that 40-bit encryption is now hard-coded into
> every DVD player; they can no more easily change it than they can
> suddenly start selling videotapes for the Betamax VCR.
Tough. That's _their_ problem, not ours. The fact is that (for better
or for worse) the DeCSS cat is well and truly out of the bag, and I
don't see how lawyers are going to be able to persuade it to get back
in.
Regards
Brian Beesley
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