DeCSS, crypto, law, and economics

[alan]

On 7 Jan 2003, Perry E. Metzger wrote:

> I don't know anyone who trades video files -- they're pretty big and
> bulky. A song takes moments to download, but a movie takes many many
> hours even on a high speed link. I have yet to meet someone who
> pirates films -- but I know lots of hardened criminals who watch DVDs
> on Linux and BSD. I'm one of these "criminals".

There is some trading of TV shows, but not movies.  (Some, but only things 
that you cannot buy legally.)  The few "pre-release" things you find on 
the file-sharing networks have the same (lack of) quality that the 
bootleg tapes have. The only large films worth the time are things that 
you cannot buy.  (Although "Song of the South" should be required viewing 
in schools.  It makes racism *boring*.)

A XVCD copy of a 22 minute TV show runs about 425 megs.  Anything smaller 
tends to look like crap.  Multiply that out to a feature length film and 
you find out why it is impractical to trade films in this manner.  (It is 
not worth the 2 days it will take for the download. Most people will go 
out and buy it than waste the time.)

> Many nights, I close the blinds and illegally use the computer I
> lawfully paid for to view the DVDs I lawfully paid for. To do that, I
> make use of DeCSS. My nice Unix based DVD player, ogle, needs it to
> read the drive. A little later this evening I'll be watching an
> episode of "I, Claudius" I bought and paid for, using this "criminal"
> software combination. Hopefully no one will learn of my shamefully
> immoral act. Please don't tell anyone.

Not to mention the two seasons of Futurama that are only available on 
Region 2 PAL DVDs.  (Or the other movies and TV shows not allowed by your 
corporate masters.)  "They Live" is another film only available from 
Region 
2.  Maybe it tells too much about the movie industry...


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