Off topic [LWN.net]

Off topic

Posted Mar 1, 2007 15:23 UTC (Thu) by mightyduck (subscriber, #23760)
In reply to: Off topic by PhilHannent
Parent article: Another attempt at DMCA reform - sort of

What is personally objectionable is a matter of taste and not a matter of
law. I, for instance, find pr0n not at all objectionable but I highly
object to truck and SUV commercials. So, if it's legal to skip
objectionable content, it should be perfectly legal to skip commercials.

But, IANAL.

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Off topic

Posted Mar 2, 2007 1:52 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954) [Link]

You may have misunderstood the reference to skipping commercials in the article. The proposed law doesn't say that skipping commercials is still illegal because they are not personally objectionable. It says DeCSS is still illegal because it can be used for things other than skipping commercials -- for example, copying a movie for a friend.

BTW that "copyright notice" -- the one in which the fast forward button is disabled -- isn't even a copyright notice. It is just a warning about copyright law. And it irritates me more than I can say. Mainly because of the idiocy it represents -- that someone somewhere believes forcing everyone to sit through the warning will reduce copying.

I would pay a lot of money for a DVD player that has a "play the damn movie" button, skipping the previews, warnings, disclaimers, menus, wipes, and logos. It isn't yet worth the labor to build one, but I'm getting there.