These guys are shrewd...

[smiller]

 

So you want to transfer a copy of some of your DVDs to your home media server? Seems like no big deal, right? Not so, accoring to the MPAA. The fact that you legally own the DVD and that the transfer software is restricted so that copies cannot be shared, no dice... it is not up to you what media you store the product on, that decison should lie strictly with them.

 

The comical thing is that software to copy protected DVDs to your computer, or other DVDs, or to the entire world has been available for years and takes about ten minutes to find and download. By fighting above-board software that attempts to protect copyright the MPAA is giving consumers who want to transfer DVDs for legitimate purposes no choice but to use alternate software that has no copy restrictions whatsoever, thus stimulating the distribution of 'illegal' duplication software and furthering the practice they're trying to prevent.

 

If copy protection were applied to audio CDs (it's not because copy protection wasn't in the original CD specification because in those days there was no readlily available hardware that would allow consumers to copy them) then the current Digital Millenium Copyright Act would prohibit ripping your own CDs to your MP3 player as well, with the same very predictable results.

 

I guess this is a rhetorical question, but it possible for these guys to be any more myopic?

[russell_bynum]

I guess this is a rhetorical question, but it possible for these guys to be any more myopic?

 

Yes.

 

 

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

Most of us will continue to do whatever we wish the digital media we buy and never run afoul of these loosers. Why? Because we don't share it in ways that they can catch us.

 

I was wondering the other day, what digital media would look like in this day and age if the recording industry had embraced Napster and had a say in the final product.

[velomoto]

It's good business sense... DVD's have a limited life, depending upon how they are handled and stored it can be very short. And DAMHIK Even when properly handled, DVD's will degrade over time rendering them useless. Having a law which prohibits one from making backup copies is pure genius - on the part of the MPAA!

 

IMO the lawmakers who wrote and approved the DMCA should be listed with their email addresses and phone numbers so every American can call to thank them. This is a list of people whose names should go down in infamy!

 

 

[russell_bynum]

I was wondering the other day, what digital media would look like in this day and age if the recording industry had embraced Napster and had a say in the final product.

 

Isn't that basically what iTunes/Apple Music Store is? You pay some money to be allowed to download songs.

[sgendler]

Even when properly handled, DVD's will degrade over time rendering them useless.

 

They've been saying this about disk formats since the advent of the video disk in the early 80s. I still have the copy of Axis: Bold as Love that was my first CD, purchased in 1986. It plays fine, despite copious scratching. I was a very early adopter of the DVD format and own some of the first DVDs that were ever released to market. They all play fine. Wish I could say the same about that early DVD player, which cost a fortune but wouldn't play lots of newer DVDs that contained efforts to protect the content installed on them - 0 length sectors and such. Things that should be handled by a player, according to the spec, but which early players (and many software players) do not.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I voted with my wallet. I just don't buy DVD's or even CD's anymore. They are welcome to kiss my lily white a$$.

 

XM or Sirius, gets me all the music I need and I have about 4 gig of music that I like on my iPod. No more for me, although I realize I am paying for the music to some extent through my subscription.

 

IMHO, that is how it should have been done in the first place. You pay a subscription to some service, download music based on your taste and pay according to how much you download. My real gripe with things like iTunes is the lack of older stuff that I really like. Vinyl if you will. I understand it is a bunch of money that may never be made back to remaster and convert to digital format but I do miss some of the old stuff.

[smiller]

 

Yes, DVD and CD media life appears to be turning out to be much better than the estimates you read about and the primary danger to one's library seems to be simple physical damage or loss. There was a software package available a few years ago that would allow you to make one archival copy (copies themselves could not be copied) to address this concern, but this product too was sued out of existence my the MPAA (again, simply to be replaced by free software that allows unlimited copies with no restrictions.)

 

 

IMHO, that is how it should have been done in the first place. You pay a subscription to some service, download music based on your taste and pay according to how much you download.

And, incredibly, the RIAA sued XM and Pioneer over the Inno receiver (that allowed the user to record off of XM, even though the recordings couldn't be copied and in fact couldn't even be transferred off of the device!) They came to their senses when they realized they were suing a company that provided them a large revenue stream (XM pays a lot of airplay royalties) and so backed off. Brilliant.

[stubble!]

Nothing like watching a whole industry commit suicide.

 

In the meantime buy DRM-free products, excercise your right to fair use by ripping backup copies of your stuff, and support the EFF with a few bucks when you can.

 

 

[Joel]

There aren't many entities that survive despite their customers' disdain. For the rest, "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered" should apply. I smell bacon.

[Bullett]

Ummmmm, bacon . . .

[Mike O]

I'm equally concerned about the 'slippery-slope' this industry may impart on others that I believe are far more important. My prediction is that we've only begun to witness the digitization of traditional print media. What with the decline of just about every major city's newspaper business (and not far behind magazines), I'm concerned that what we are witnessing with DVD's will be attempted by book and print media publishers. While technology like Amazon's Kindle (and how Apple will copy that too), it's pretty clear that being in the media distribution business is very lucrative (Anyone that thinks Apple's core business is to build the perfect iPod should probably do a bit more research). While I am annoyed as the next person about the 'hand-cuffs' I've been provide in control MY use of entertainment products (DVD's, CD's etc.) should the same legal restrictions be placed on traditional print media (which provides true educational value), we'll be 'dumbing down' America even more. I very much want to purchase (and give true revenue licensing to the distributor and author) an electronic book, newspaper or magazine and be able to share that with my grand daughter. The challenge will be in finding a way to compensate everyone in the creation and distribution chain in a way that does not limit the overall benefit of traditional 'sharing a book' model we've enjoyed since the year 1450.

 

Mike O

[rkd]

Apologies in advance, but when I read “home media server” I was reminded of a side project I’d like to complete.

 

On my home wired / wireless network I have Windows 2003 and Fedora 10 servers. I’d like to play video files available via a Windows server “share” on my older analog TV. Since the TV only supports composite video, what’s the least expensive way to present these videos on the TV? Something like this Happauge device *might* do the job, but I’d like the device to support both windows shares as well as FTP.

 

The Happauge device though relatively inexpensive, does require a server-side software install, and probably doesn’t support Windows 2003 Server.

 

Supporting wireless would be nice but less important. Note that the TV and the servers are not in the same room, and I'd like whatever device that presents the video to be stand-alone and have a local (on the TV screen) menu system to select the media to play.

 

Any ideas?

[smiller]

What you are attempting to do is illegal. 'Stealing', to use the words of the MPAA.

 

 

[rkd]

Really? I didn't know the MPAA owned videos recorded via my own cameras. Not that I'd be surprised they would claim so - such a friendly bunch they are.

 

P.S. Sorry about the hijack

[smiller]

I didn't know the MPAA owned videos recorded via my own cameras.

No, but they did push legislation where video recorded on your own equipment would be required to have a digital fingerprint to ensure that they were not copyright (to prevent you from 'going analog' to make copies.)

 

No problem on the hijack, thread has pretty much run its course anyway. To your question, finding something with composite out these days may be difficult. With the plunging prices of LCD TV's with HDMI input these days it may be more cost-effective to just replace the TV?