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RE: [dvd-discuss] Felten Opp to DoJ Motion to Dismiss





On Mon, 29 Oct 2001, Dean Sanchez wrote:

> Hasn't 'space shifting' been lost with the advent of Macrovision?  You

Well herein lies the problem.  We have the "right" to do space and time
shifting.  They don't have to make it easy.  Unfortunatly this seems to
translate somehow that they can make it hard on purpose if they like.

In other countries, like russia, they aren't allowed to make it hard, or
have to make it easy... or at any rate, can't complain when people
excersize their rights... but in the "free world" here... things are
different...

> can no longer copy a VHS tape to any other media without an intermediate
> device to defeat the Macrovision protection.  Aren't those devices now
> illegal under the DCMA?

perhaps if DMCA itself was legal. ;)  In my opinion violating DMCA is like
violating those old laws remaining on the books about t being illegal to
eat pizza on the beach, etc.  It's so obviously repressive and
unconstitutional... I wouldn't be doing my duty as a citizen to obey it.

> We are addressing the issue of DVD and css, but
> let's not forget that we have also lost the fair use of VHS as well.  I

Well not according to the MPAA, they claimed you could _get_ your fair use
by using VHS!!  Perhaps this can be used against them.  Perhaps it is
being implied that DMCA only applies to new technology?

> know that I have raised this question before, but was the inability to
> copy VHS tapes due to Macrovision addressed during the trial?  The
> argument that VHS was available for fair use was incorrectly stated in
> the portion of the trial transcripts that I read.

(see above)
 
> We want to be careful with the idea of the message not the media being
> what is purchased.  DVD affords a higher quality product.  Is the
> purchased product actually the same?  We definitely don't want the
> industry to get away with 'use VHS, it's the same thing'.  

Well besides that... I at least believe if you are allowed fair use, it
means:
a.) fair use of the product you purchased.
b.) Fair use of the same quality, etc. of the product your purchased.

I think backup qualifies as fair use, so I should be able to make an
entire copy of my DVD at full quality.

I can do this with video CDs fine, and that's why I use them.  (BTW, you
guys should really look into Super Video CDs, they are fairly high
quality, and easily found of almost all new movies.. and as an added bonus
are usually subtitled in chinese (they are popular there)).  Since they
are just CDs, it is easy enough to duplicate them, or copy the MPEG to the
hard drive to watch, etc.  

 -- noah silva