Legal Status of libdvdcss

[Matthew East]

Randy Gloden <sounder <at> microbabble.com> writes:

> 
> Matthew, check out
> 
>     http://cryptome.org/dvd-hoy-reply.htm
> 
> This document gives a lot of the backgound to the legal issues. 
> 
> The "DVD Copy Control Association" is the current licensing entity for 
> CSS.  To get their angle, check out:
>     http://www.dvdcca.org/faq.html
>  In a nutshell, their claim, the main elements of their security were 
> stolen and posted on the internet.  DeCSS uses those stolen elements. 

Thanks, I will read that definitely.

Note that libdvdcss doesn't use those things though. It's not the same as deCSS.
This is more of a question of circumventing the copy protection, there is no
problem about using stolen intellectual property.

> A quote the 
> CSS License Agreement:
>             "2.1. Nonexclusive License. Subject to the terms and 
> conditions of this Agreement, Licensor
> grants to Licensee a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, 
> nontransferable right, under the
> Licensed Rights:"
> 
> What we really need if for a lawyer to look over this document because 
> IANAL and the document is deep in legalese.  In other words, that is my 
> take, but I could definately be wrong on multiple accounts. 

Well, I'll have a look at that too, out of interest. IAAL, but I'm not sure it
makes much difference :)

> The most frustrating thing about the whole affair of things is this: 
>     1.  A person that is prone to copy CSS protected DVDs will not have 
> any moral hangups about installing libdvdcss2
>     2.  The person who will not install libdvdcss2 on moral/legal 
> grounds would probably not copy CSS protected DVDs in the first place.
>     3.  A copy protection system that has been compromised in no longer 
> securing anything, thus serving no real purpose but to frustrate us (or 
> at least some of us).

Yes, I agree, very frustrating!

Matt