Am I a criminal

[kyroha]

I was just wondering today, am I violating the DMCA by playing dvds on my linux box? I am not talking about riping them, just playing a dvd that I bought. Could I, in theory at least, get in trouble for this? just curious if any knows

[hard candy]

I believe having some codecs installed on your computer makes it illegal- if those codecs are direct derivatives of microsoft or other proprietary codecs. If you can't download a codec from a US-based distro directly, then it is probably illegal.
But a player can be legal if it has paid for using certain codecs. Mplayer is based in Hungary, so they ignore US laws. So I would guess something like mplayer is illegal. But there are programs like dvdxcopy which won a lawsuit in which the court said you have a right to back up dvd movies- so on one hand if you use codecs without paying for them, you are illegal, but if you buy a program which has the right to use those same codecs-you are legal.
The simple rule is that if you can't download it from a US-based server, it is probably illegal.

[mrBen]

I think the answer is far from clear-cut. Having said that, the clear-cut answer is Yes, it is illegal.

However, many people have chosen to take a stand against this, because the implication of the DMCA is that you are guilty, whether or not you can be proven innocent or not. The DMCA, as far I can see it, makes it illegal to _have the potential_ to copy stuff, regardless of whether you use that potential.

Where things may well become more murky now, is the now implied realisation that the CSS coding has been broken, and that there are codecs out there. It could (possibly?) be argued that having a _binary_ codec, rather than the source-code, is somehow 'less' illegal.

Personally, although I live in the UK, not the US, my view is that I have copied some of my CDs into MP3 format to play on my CD player - I don't distribute the copies, and I try and prevent them being played in the 2 places at the same time (ie I lend a CD to someone, I will not listen to the MP3). With regards to DVDs, I don't have a DVD player on my computer, but if I did, I would be using the DeCSS codec, because I believe I should be entitled to watch DVDs that I have paid for on my OS of choice.

Not everyone is as 'strict' as me when it comes to MP3s, however, my 'system' is regarded by some as illegal, but I will continue to use it, because in this instance I believe that the law is wrong.

HTH.

(IANAL)

[hard candy]

I misspoke about DVDXCopy winning their lawsuit, it was dismissed. But they are still in business and there is another lawsuit by the movie people against dvdxcopy pending.
Why is it legal to play a dvd on a windows installation using NvidiaDVD? Because they have permission from whoever owns the rights to the codec being used to play the dvd. If xine, for example, was to obtain that permission, then it would be legal to use xine but not ogle to play the dvd on a linux installation.

[Icarus]

Originally posted by hard candy
If xine, for example, was to obtain that permission, then it would be legal to use xine but not ogle to play the dvd on a linux installation. But considering Xine uses the DVD code from Ogle (and mplayer borrows this code also I believe) it would need to be universal permission unless Xine goes about and re-writes the entire dvdlib from scratch and distributes it without source under a completely different license ;)

[kyroha]

The DMCA, as far I can see it, makes it illegal to _have the potential_ to copy stuff, regardless of whether you use that potential.

That is ridiculious, that's liking making it illegal to own a gun because you could kill someone with it (whoops I think I may have just gotten a little political there)
But isn't that what the whole Betamax decision was about, just because a device has potential infringing uses doesnt neccesarily make it illegal, as long as there are significant non-infringing uses. That's my basic understanding of it. But of course that decision is just a precedent, courts don't make laws, they interpret them, so unless the higher courts interpret the DMCA differently than some already have, It looks like us folks in the U.S. are going to continue to be criminals just for watching legally purchased DVDs on our own computers

jhgfd

[hard candy]

DMCA was not about protecting digital rights for the consumer but about protecting digital profits of the corporations. Popular bands were millionaires long before the DMCA was a gleam in Michael Eisner's eye. struggling bands are still struggling.
Linux unfortunately is cheap and can't afford to pay for rights to codecs unless they charge the users for the privilege.
I didn't realize xine was "OGLING" their codecs (finally got to use it in a pun ) . :)
I did find out that VideoLAN does seem to be the most legal since it doesn't decrypt, plus it now can use the DTS audio track. (Love this screen shot! :) )VideoLAN (http://download.videolan.org/vlc/screenshots/20030202-osx-04.jpg)