[mythtv-users] A new theme on the way...

[Christopher Meredith]

On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 10:06 AM, ryan patterson <ryan.goat at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 8:26 AM, Christopher Meredith
> <chmeredith at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 7:01 AM, David Asher <asherml at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Actually doesn't the DMCA expressly forbid removing the encryption from a
>>> DVD even for your own purposes?  Of course, only in the US.
>>
>> While I was speaking mainly in terms of the Copyright Act and fair
>> use, you bring up a good point. Not only does the DMCA forbid ripping
>> DVDs you already own, it also forbids even *watching* them in Linux.
>>
>
> No the DMCA is very specific.  It forbids removing the encryption from
> a DVD for the express purpose of circumventing the copyright.
> Removing the encryption for other purposes is permitted, but not
> defined.  Of coarse according to the MPAA, removing the encryption in
> order to watch your DVD on anything but a authorized device (for
> example: linux, iphone, etc.) is a copyright violation.  Most
> consumers disagree.  This ambiguity has not been definitively defined
> by the courts.

Sec. 1201(a)(1)(A) of the DMCA says that "[n]o person shall circumvent
a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work
protected under this title." It doesn't mention the purpose for which
the circumvention is employed. Sec. 1201(a)(3)(A) defines "circumvent"
as "to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or
otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a
technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner."
Because DeCSS is not licensed or approved, it amounts to a
circumvention of commercial DVD encryption. Under the plain language
of the statute, the use of DeCSS (for ripping or even watching) is a
violation of the DMCA.