[MPlayer-users] Re: Rescuing a scratched DVD

[rcooley]

On Mon, 8 Dec 2003 13:28:17 +1000
Adam Nielsen <a.nielsen at optushome.com.au> wrote:

> [Automatic answer: RTFM (read DOCS, FAQ), also read
> DOCS/bugreports.html]
> > Now that Magnus has mentioned rental.... If you have a DVD go bad
> > and want to recover it, why not just go rent it and make a copy from
> > the rental version? Then you pay something like $3-4 for a new copy
> > rather than $20. Will that make you happy?
> 
> No, because that's illegal.  Even though you already own it, it's
> illegal to 'back up' a DVD.  Apparently you can even get in trouble
> for just *downloading* software to do it (though I've yet to see that
> happen.) 

That ramains to be seen.  Last I heard, the company that makes
DVD-XCopy was in court, fighting for their legal right to sell a
product that allows DVDs to be copied (it does not use DeCSS,
or anything else that would run afoul of the DMCA).  
If you'd like to wait around until the courts finally figure it out,
this is the case to watch. If that is ruled legal, then it stands to
reason that using DVD-CSS(which was a cleanroom implimentation) should
also be legal.


Personally, I don't mind violating the DMCA every which way.  It's a
very grey area...  Some laws give you the right, others deny you that
same right.  If I ever get called on it, I'll be more than happy to
defend my own actions in court.