David Honig <honig@sprynet.com> wrote:
Linux is a well known anti-american operating system. :-P
:-) Even so, the fact that it's Linux isn't the point. The fact is, you have to do some hardware handshaking before you can read the data. It just happens that it's via an ioctl interface in Linux, and I only mentioned that as a specific example.
Not if you have lawfully paid for the content.
Not really. Part of 2600's claim is that DeCSS and css-auth allow people using operating systems without officially licensed DVD player software (with development cost starting at $20k just for the license to implement the standard) to view DVDs that they purchased. The judge didn't buy it; it doesn't matter that they legally paid for the content, they're accessing it illegally via a "circumvention device." The DMCA, according to the court, clearly prevents the use of DeCSS and css-auth, even in the case that it has a legitimate use, because it circumvents the access control measures built into the DVD standard.
If a cartridge doesn't have (C) SEGA in it, it won't play... ergo, (C) SEGA is not protected.
I don't see how this applies to what I was saying. The reason I tagged this on is to show that one must authenticate if one plans to read the data. Thus, the EBay offering has to use some sort of authentication mechanism. If it uses one that is not officially licensed (read this: upwards of $20k development cost), it is illegal, according to the court. I'm not agreeing with the DMCA, or with the judge's decision regarding DeCSS. Neither are palatable, to say the least. The original question was "can this be done legally." The answer is: if someone paid to develop a licensed implementation of the DVD standard, yes. I don't know of any commercial software that will read the data from the DVD and spit out the raw data, encrypted or not, for writing to a CD. The DVD CCA would never license such a piece of software---its use is too clearly geared towards backup or, as they see it, piracy. -- Riad Wahby rsw@mit.edu MIT VI-2/A 2002 5105