[lug] DVD recommendations

[Timothy C. Klein]

* j davis (davis_compz at hotmail.com) wrote:
> so....why are ther dvd players for computers? are they
> only for home made dvds?
> 

The DVD players for home computers are intended to require a license
from whomever it is that owns that CSS crap.  All of those DVD playing
software packages for Windows pay that licencing fee.  Nobody does that
for Linux.  The DeCSS stuff bypasses the proprietary encryption
algorithm.  Well, it doesn't bypass it.  That European kid simply
reverse engineered it through a design flaw in the protocol.  So even
though it is now in the public domain how to decrypt DVDs, the Linux
DVD players do not pay the royalties.  Thus, under the DMCA, that is
illegal.

It might not even involve royalties, just an NDA from whatever company
licenses the alogrithm, I am not sure on that part.  But in any event,
even if it didn't cost, the NDA would prohibit an open-source version
for Linux.  But I bet it involve royalties, too. 

Tim
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== Timothy Klein || teece at silverklein.net   ==
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