DVD-copying program sets stage for legal showdown (Daily Camera)
DVD-copying program sets stage for legal showdown (Daily Camera)
Posted Dec 17, 2002 1:28 UTC (Tue) by tony_peden (guest, #531)Parent article: DVD-copying program sets stage for legal showdown (Daily Camera)
IANAL, but doesn't someone have to *do* something before they can be sued?
I don't like the MPAA anymore than they do, but I think they just might have a point.
Posted Dec 17, 2002 3:25 UTC (Tue)
by proski (subscriber, #104)
[Link] (2 responses)
They are charging $100 for some utility
that amounts to a GUI interface to "dd" and "cdrecord".
I don't think they care about fair use when it comes to their software.
Posted Dec 17, 2002 9:21 UTC (Tue)
by beejaybee (guest, #1581)
[Link] (1 responses)
As for commerical organizations charging big bucks for what _we_ know is rather simple, well, lots of them do that - and many consumers are prepared to pay for the convenience. I mean, making hamburgers from raw ingredients is not exactly rocket science; many people have wheat & beef available, together with the hardware required to prepare & cook the ingredients, yet most of them seem to prefer to pay extra for the convenience offerred by McDonalds. (Or Wendys. Or whatever.) Freedom of choice here includes both the freedom for corporations to rip off gullible consumers, and the freedom for consumers to avoid being ripped off by greedy corporations. The real point here is that the DMCA is trying to do the equivalent of making it impossible to legally obtain a recipe for hamburgers, to obtain hardware capable of making hamburgers or to modify any other hardware so that hamburgers can be made using it.
Posted Dec 19, 2002 4:29 UTC (Thu)
by proski (subscriber, #104)
[Link]
I'm all for the right to make backups, but I don't think that the business model of 321 Studios is based on those honest users. Most home users don't even backup their most important data.
Posted Dec 17, 2002 18:37 UTC (Tue)
by Ross (guest, #4065)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Dec 29, 2002 2:38 UTC (Sun)
by giraffedata (guest, #1954)
[Link]
The LWN article contains an error, by the way. The defendant in this suit is not the MPAA. The defendants are a bunch of big movie studios that own copyrights on movies. In case you're wondering, in a case like this, what you sue "for" is called "declarative relief." I.e. rather than money or an injunction, you ask the judge just to award you a declaration that what you're thinking about doing won't make you liable to someone. Such a declaration has little legal weight and is rarely given in U.S. courts, which are really geared toward deciding very specific cases -- cases so specific that they can't effectively be argued hypothetically.
Maybe 321 Studios actually wants to lose in court?
There is something fishy here.
DVD-copying program sets stage for legal showdown (Daily Camera)
Yes, there _is_ something strange. But I think 321 Studio's lawyers may have advised them that it may be better to test the water with a toe rather than leaping directly into what may be a pool of piranhas. Unless you have some sort of proof that 321 Studio's action is being bankrolled by Hollywood interests, it seems reasonable to give them the benefit of the doubt. For now. DVD-copying program sets stage for legal showdown (Daily Camera)
I agree that the customers are prepared to pay for convenience, but do you think many people expect to lose over $100 worth of DVDs to be bothered to buy the software and blank media and spend time on doing backups?
DVD-copying program sets stage for legal showdown (Daily Camera)
No, you don't have to do anything to be sued. And in this case they aren't "suing"; they are asking a judge to make a declaratory statement that their actions do not violate the DMCA.
DVD-copying program sets stage for legal showdown (Daily Camera)
Terminology varies a little here, but in most court systems, asking a judge to make a decision of civil law is called "suing." The case in question here is in U.S. District Court, where that terminology does in fact apply.DVD-copying program sets stage for legal showdown (Daily Camera)