Quote:
Originally Posted by rkomar
I only started buying DVDs when the DRM had been cracked about ten years ago (by the infamous DVD Jon of Norway). Up until then, you could not play a DVD on a Linux system because the software wasn't available. Other, more popular, platforms (Windows, Mac) had commercial, closed-source programs for decrypting DVDs for playing, but those were never ported to Linux. So, I was still buying VHS tapes up until that point. Once the encryption was broken, the contents could be descrambled without needing the inaccessible keys hidden on the disc. The descrambling code was made public, so even the open source programs in Linux could make use of it. From then on, I stopped buying VHS tapes and switched to DVDs. That descrambling software is still used to this day, but since it is circumventing the DRM on the DVDs, it will become illegal to use when this law is passed.
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Well that doesn't seem right. Can't say I totally understand the bill, but to me you are not circumventing DRM by playing an original DVD no matter how you play it. You bought the right to watch that DVD. Whether you have a right to legally copy it may be nebulous, but you should be able to watch that DVD using any capable equipment. To pass a law that prohibits you from watching the DVD you bought on a linux computer seems a bit nuts. (My point being you should be able to watch it on your washing machine if it was capable of displaying it)