[svlug] playing DVDs on Linux (was: Installfest)

[Ian Kluft]

On Mon, Dec 05, 2005 at 04:15:53PM -0800, Tim Utschig wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 05, 2005 at 03:31:36PM -0800, Ian Kluft wrote:
> > It's available on DVD, now that we won the war to play DVD's on
> > Linux.)
> 
> When did we win?

Almost 2 years ago.

> Sure we can play DVDs when we download libdvdcss (or a program like
> MPlayer, which includes it) from a server located in a foreign country,
> but we're still outlaws for doing so aren't we?  At least the MPAA
> thinks so:

Nevermind what their FAQ says - the page info says it hasn't been updated
since 2002.

They were defeated in the California Supreme Court on Jan 22, 2004.
The DVD-CCA (DVD Copy Control Association of Gilroy, CA) abandoned the
"trade secret" status of CSS a few days later.  Complete victory for us.

   "DVDCCA Surrenders in Bunner DVD Descrambling Case"
   EFF Press Release, Jan 22, 2004
   http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_01.php#001193

   "DVD CCA Drops Case; DeCSS Not a Trade Secret"
   Slashdot, Jan 22, 2004
   http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/22/2238219&tid=123&tid=93&tid=97&tid=17

   "Hollywood drops DVD lawsuit"
   The Register, Jan 23, 2004
   http://www.theregister.com/2004/01/23/hollywood_drops_dvd_lawsuit/

   "EFF: DVD Descrambling Code Not a Trade Secret"
   LinuxToday, Jan 27, 2004
   http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2004-01-27-001-26-NW-SW-LL&tbovrmode=3

   "DVD-CCA v. Bunner and DVD-CCA v. Pavlovich"
   EFF Case Archive
   http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/

(You can Google for a zillion more articles and blogs on the topic.)

With the trade secret abandoned, DMCA doesn't apply any more.  No one
challenges that you may play a DVD that you legally own on any player.

That's exactly the result that SVLUG and EFF sought when the war against
DVD-CCA started in Jan 2000 - just remove the question whether you can play
a DVD you bought.  In the early days of the war, EFF needed SVLUG's help to
pack the courtrooms in San Jose.  In the initial TRO case on Jan 3, 2000,
EFF had only hours to prepare, and praised SVLUG for our members'
familiarity with the subject - "It was like having 50 experts in the room."
Together we won that first round and gave EFF more time to prepare.

Later, when DVD-CCA learned not to file cases in California, and when the
California cases went into appeals, EFF flew on their own to the successful
conclusion.

So if you're looking for places to send tax-deductible donations,
EFF is a worthy recipient to consider.