Tim May[SMTP:tcmay@got.net] wrote
On Wednesday, August 8, 2001, at 11:44 AM, Ray Dillinger wrote:
On Wed, 8 Aug 2001, Tim May wrote:
(Ads could be tied-in to the content, with some light crypto or copright protection. A "circumvention" of this liight crypto could be a DMCA violation. I would not be surprised to see this already impicated in the DVD cases: that 5 minute period of trailors that cannot be fast-forwarded past...it's probably a violation of the DMCA to build devices which circumvent the copyright holder's plans and intents.)
They're sticking *trailers* on movies that people *pay for??*
Geez.. talk about destroying the value of the merchandise they're trying to sell.
Yes, we have heard here (or at a physical meeting, I forget which). I don't buy many DVDs, but this was discussed. Apparently the trailers and ads cannot be fast-forwarded through...something built into the DVD spec which allows this.
So an ad-buster which "circumvented" this would violate the DMCA, presumably. --Tim May
Commercial VHS tapes have had trailers (and occasionally ads) at the start for several years, but they can be zapped with FF. Over 20-30 DVDs I've seen none *forced* you to watch the trailers - they have always been part of the 'extra features' stuff off the main menu. OTOH, they all *do* force you to sit through the FBI and Interpol warnings for about 15 seconds. BTW: my VCR has a feature that allows it to automatically FF through ads. It works about 90% of the time, and is a very nice thing to have. Peter Trei