metapackages

[Julien Olivier]

> ANAL and perhaps not the most competent person to answer this, but
> this is how I did understand the issue:
> w32codecs are just taken from windows installations. So there is no
> real licence for them at all, they are just copied from some windows
> installation and perhaps a bit patched. Usage MAY be allowed in some
> jurisdictions, redistribution only in a few, like .hu (as the mplayer
> developers say).
> 

OK. Thanks for the info.

> libdvdcss falls under the DMCA, the american media industry did some
> spectacular cases about decss, search the news archives, there have
> been a big media echo about this.
> 

According to http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20040122_eff_pr.php
it doesn't seem to even be a problem anymore in the USA. But, maybe it
changed again later, or I might have misunderstood it...

> > OK, I see. But as a European user, I feel I have to ask: is it legal for
> > me to install such packages (as I did, assuming it was), or should I
> > remove them ?
> 
> If you ask the media industry, they will say that this is highly
> illegal and must be removed or you'll get prosecuted. In fact, I think
> the case has not been at court so far, but no one is really interested
> to find out. There are several opinions about this matter. Some people
> put these codes on their ftp server and did not get mails (yet?) from
> the copyright owners, but this is no proof of legality.
> 

Hmm... I guess I'll keep on doing what I believe is right then :)

> No, it is also a european problem. Usage of libdvdcss is very unclear
> in Europe, perhaps prohibited, but as said, this seems to be quite
> unclear because nobody really went to court yet.
> 
> And btw, I did not talk about patent problems. The problems are rather
> about bypassing copy protections.
> 
> Patents are an issue for itself, sadly :(
> 

OK, thanks for the clarification. I tried to make some researches on my
own, but it's very difficult for me to decrypt this legal stuff.

-- 
Julien Olivier <julo at altern.org>