[d@DCC] Broadcast "flag" removes choice....

[Russell McOrmond]

On Thu, 16 Sep 2004, John Lange wrote:

> Worth also mentioning is the fact that these new "features", even if
> they do allow time-shifting, will prohibit the skipping of commercials.

  Most of the private-email comments I received to that letter suggested
that it was too long and would never make it to the pages of the newspaper
;-)

> As most people are well aware this is already a common "feature" in DVD
> players. Is there anything more annoying than renting or buying a DVD
> and not being able to skip to where the movie actually starts? 

  I wouldn't know... I watch DVD's using VLC <http://www.videolan.org/>
and refuse to buy an "authorized by DVD CCA" DVD player.  I'll wait until
the legal issues under competition are sorted out.


  I really don't know how to reconcile the claimed illegality of CSS
circumventing software required for third party compatibility with DVDs,
and the garage door opener issue recently ruled on in the US.  While
IANAL/TINLA, it appears to me that VideoLan's libdvdcss is perfectly legal
to use and distribute, including in the USA and thus obviously in Canada.

  It would be great if this could be ruled on more specifically so that 
Linux distributions and TheOpenCD.org will be able to ship VLC and related 
software in a mode able to fully access commercially distributed DVDs.



The Chamberlain Group Inc. v. Skylink Technologies Inc. No. 041118 -
08/31/2004
http://laws.findlaw.com/fed/041118.html

The conclusion states:

    CONCLUSION

    The DMCA does not create a new property right for copyright owners.  
    Nor, for that matter, does it divest the public of the property rights
    that the Copyright Act has long granted to the public. The
    anticircumvention and anti-trafficking provisions of the DMCA create
    new grounds of liability. A copyright owner seeking to impose
    liability on an accused circumventor must demonstrate a reasonable
    relationship between the circumvention at issue and a use relating to
    a property right for which the Copyright Act permits the copyright
    owner to withhold authorization-as well as notice that authorization
    was withheld. A copyright owner seeking to impose liability on an
    accused trafficker must demonstrate that the trafficker's device
    enables either copyright infringement or a prohibited circumvention.  
    Here, the District Court correctly ruled that Chamberlain pled no
    connection between unauthorized use of its copyrighted software and
    Skylink's accused transmitter. This connection is critical to
    sustaining a cause of action under the DMCA. We therefore affirm the
    District Court's summary judgment in favor of Skylink.

http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/Chamberlain_v_Skylink/


-- 
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/> 
 Get Creative: iCommons Canada Launch Party : September 30, 2004
 http://digital-copyright.ca/node/view/461  Creative Commons, 
 Open Access, Free/Libre and Open Source Software: In Canada, Eh!
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