Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:25:37 -0800 From: Gary Kline <kline@tao.thought.org> To: Ted Mittelstaedt <tedm@toybox.placo.com> Cc: Gary Kline <kline@tao.thought.org>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: copying DVD material :: somewhat OT. Message-ID: <20071211222537.GE28415@thought.org> In-Reply-To: <BMEDLGAENEKCJFGODFOCOECPCFAA.tedm@toybox.placo.com> References: <20071209101050.GD4442@thought.org> <BMEDLGAENEKCJFGODFOCOECPCFAA.tedm@toybox.placo.com>
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On Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 02:41:08AM -0800, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> Hi Gary,
>
> You mentioned you wanted to record a 117 minute COMMERCIAL dvd. Now,
> before I continue let me explain that doing so is illegal in the US.
> All commercial DVD's are encrypted and the DMCA makes decrypting of
> them illegal, it even makes it illegal to give someone a copy of
> a program that will decrypt them, it makes it illegal to even write
> and post online the source code to such a program. It is NOT illegal
> to print up such source code in a paper book and sell it - the authors
> of DMCA wanted to duck the 1st amendment - Google DeCSS for
> an understanding of the controversy.
I'll check it out when I have nothig better to do! I've given up
on copying the one commercial DVD but still want to back up my
Jos Campbell DVD. Before it gets scratched up. Or lost.
>
> With this in mind understand that CSS was broken years ago. Because
> of this, the DVD producers figured out that copying wasn't much of
> an obstacle to the unwashed masses, particulary when free programs
> for Windows began to show up.
>
> Many people with children have found that they accumulate a large
> number of Disney videos. They have also found the kids tend to scratch
> the shit out of them. So there is a large interest in being able to
> copy these things and store the masters safely away, then give the
> kids the copy to destroy. So all copying of commercial DVD's is not
> for piracy and I think people who assert this are moronic idiots.
> Further, with Disney DVD's, Disney lately has taken to inserting
> commercials for Disney cruise lines and other garbage into the DVD's
> that are NOT skippable with a normal DVD player. Responsible parents
> do not wish their kids to view this crap and so naturally there is
> another reason to copy these - to remaster them to prune out these
> commercials so the kids don't view them. Also illegal under the
> law as the copyright holder hasn't given you permission to do this.
It wasn't bad enough that Ol' Walt loved Uncle Adolf; but
the corporate culture hasn't changed that much now, has it?
>
> Anyway, Disney is greedy and wishes people to continue to
> buy replacement DVD's for ones they already own, and they want to push
> their crappy and junky cruise lines. So they take a dim view of copying.
> They know the CSS has been broken so these days they use all manner
> of different copy protection. One system is to intentionally press
> the DVD with some sectors using invalid CRC's thus a regular block ISO
> copy program will hit these sectors and assume the DVD is bad and
> abort. The menu on the DVD avoids these sectors, naturally. The
> latest trick is to damage the filesystem on the DVD in
> such a way as to make the DVD readable by a DVD player but not by
> a computer DVD drive. Pirates of Carribean 3 has that one, for example.
> There are many other copy protection tricks, it is a cat-and-mouse
> game that entire websites are devoted to following. Interestingly,
> since so many of these schemes utterly violate the DVD standards,
> companies like Disney are not allowed to use the official DVD logos
> on the boxes that they package their DVD's on. That is why Disney
> for example has their own logo - Disney DVD - which is meaningless
> under the standard.
this i hadn't heaard, but it doesn't surprise me.
>
> So far, of the HD formats, HD-DVD encryption has also been cracked
> and Blue Ray has not. That is why this Christmas Disney is pushing
> Blue Ray and isn't making their movie titles available in HD-DVD.
>
> Anyway, the fact is that none of the open source DVD copying
> programs can really deal with these advanced systems. They can
> deal with CSS but that's it. If your plan is to copy commercial
> DVD's for your own use, you should be aware of all this. Right
> now, the most advanced DVD cracking programs that will deal with
> ALL of the perverted copy protection schemes in use are only available
> as commercial programs for Windows. (Some trialware, some not)
> And none are available over-the-counter in the US, you have to
> download them from foreign websites.
>
Well, if it takes messing with Dos: no thanks. for as little as
I watch any video, if I can't tape it off PBS, then I'll buy
whatever DVDs there are. Just a shame that I can't make a backup.
Oh-well. Compared to all the rest of the BS and global problems,
*this* issue isn't even a hill of beans.
gary
> Ted
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> 2:51 PM
>
--
Gary Kline kline@thought.org www.thought.org Public Service Unix
http://jottings.thought.org http://transfinite.thought.org
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