Re: [Linux-aus] FTA circumvention devices

[Jan Schmidt <thaytan@mad.scientist.com>]

<quote who="Rusty Russell">
> On Thu, 2004-03-04 at 15:04, Jan Schmidt wrote:
> > <quote who="Anthony Towns">
> > 
> > > Yay. Linux DVD playing is doomed.
> > > 
> > > 7(e) then goes on to limit the exceptions that can be created to:
> > > 
> > > 	(i) reverse engineering for interoperability
> > 
> > This one leaves me feeling comfortable enough to write DVD playback software
> > already, without the later clause.
> 
> Bad Anthony paraphrased.  Here's the section:
>  "non-infringing reverse engineering activities with regard to a
> lawfully obtained copy of a computer program, carried out in good faith
> with respect to the paraticular elements of that computer program that
> have not been readily available to the person egnaged in such activity,
> for the sole purpose of achieving interoparability of an independently
> created computer program with other programs"
> 
> ie. is a DVD a computer program?  If not, you're SOL.

Well, as pointed out elsewhere in the thread, a DVD is a set of instructions
that are designed to be executed in a virtual machine, with registers and
all, so it could be argued that it is a computer program.

Barring that, I'm reverse engineering (in good faith) the lawfully obtained 
DVD player software program that came with my DVD drive, for the purposes of 
making my independently created DVD player software interoperate with the file 
format (vob), said file format containing some technological measures that I'm
circumventing solely for this purpose.

J.
-- 
Jan Schmidt                                  thaytan@mad.scientist.com

"Stoke me a clipper, I'll be back for Christmas"
  -- Arnold 'Ace' Rimmer, Red Dwarf