They're still trying to charge you for something that you already purchased. That's like selling you a song but then charging you to rip it and put it on your ipod, which today doesn't cost anything extra.
I buy bluray because I want the highest possible quality for the real movie home theater experience. But once I've paid even $20 for that movie I should be able to watch it however and whenever I want as long as I don't share it with others. AND I should be able to make a backup of the movie for my own uses to protect against any kind of damage to the original vehicle that movie came on. For example, I have a 3 year old and her movies are going to get scratched. Why should I have to rebuy her movies over and over - especially when I've tried to do the right thing in buying them to begin with. If I'm purchasing a license to use and watch the movie then it shouldn't matter if I convert it to a file on a media player so that my original copy can stay safe on the shelf.
If the studios charge for each and every viewing, or if they charge too much for each copy made, people will eventually figure out how to copy it illegally - just so they can use it in a reasonable fashion. Fair Use should be about fairly being able to use the products that we buy. If copy protection blocks me from being able to use the product at all, then it's reasonable to break that copy protection in order to be able to watch it. The DCMA even sort of contains a provision or exception for this, although the specific case it refers to is that Sony CD protection that ended up containing some kind of malware. In that case it's legal to remove the protection in order to prevent the malware.
badweasel knows that he would be able to make a legal copy of the disks that he purchased. His complaint is that the article implies that he would have to pay an additional fee in order to make that legal copy of the disk that he already purchased. An example might be paying $20 for the BD + $5 to make the managed copy (I'm just throwing numbers out there, we don't know how much copies will cost).
@badweasel
I could see the studios selling dual versions on BD, one with MC and one without, and they would of course charge a slight premium for the discs with MC on them. Then the MC discs could include a coupon for a free managed copy, that would cover people buying discs, yet still allowing for rent, rip, & return customers to pay for their managed copy. Also, I think MC is going to require new hardware (not sure if this is accurate), so selling dual versions would allow customers to get the latest movies on BD without upgrading their players. That's what I'm hoping will happen.
@Jake: this is why non-lawyers shouldn't hand out advice on the Internet.
It is NOT legal to make a copy for backup purposes or format shifting if the content is encrypted. Go read the DMCA. Yes, it does seem to conflict with fair use, but it hasn't been struck down by any court.
I agree that the whole idea of paying for managed copy is stupid, and I have no interest, but you should be aware that using AnyDVD or some other method to decrypt/rip your Blu-Ray (or DVD, or...) is a violation of the DMCA and against the law.
@Chris you're actually wrong. It's wrong to "circumvent" the encryption, but you can make legal backups in many ways that do not involve either circumventing it. Here are 2 ways:
1) Project the image to a wall or display on TV and record using a video camera. The MPAA has actually cited this as a legal means of making copies of DVDs.
2) Make a bit-for-bit copy with the encryption intact. If you didn't decrypt it, you didn't violate the law.
There are no doubt many other ways. Don't fall for the FUD folks-- making backup copies & making copies of any media, DRM encrypted or not, is perfectly legal.
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They're still trying to charge you for something that you already purchased. That's like selling you a song but then charging you to rip it and put it on your ipod, which today doesn't cost anything extra.
I buy bluray because I want the highest possible quality for the real movie home theater experience. But once I've paid even $20 for that movie I should be able to watch it however and whenever I want as long as I don't share it with others. AND I should be able to make a backup of the movie for my own uses to protect against any kind of damage to the original vehicle that movie came on. For example, I have a 3 year old and her movies are going to get scratched. Why should I have to rebuy her movies over and over - especially when I've tried to do the right thing in buying them to begin with. If I'm purchasing a license to use and watch the movie then it shouldn't matter if I convert it to a file on a media player so that my original copy can stay safe on the shelf.
If the studios charge for each and every viewing, or if they charge too much for each copy made, people will eventually figure out how to copy it illegally - just so they can use it in a reasonable fashion. Fair Use should be about fairly being able to use the products that we buy. If copy protection blocks me from being able to use the product at all, then it's reasonable to break that copy protection in order to be able to watch it. The DCMA even sort of contains a provision or exception for this, although the specific case it refers to is that Sony CD protection that ended up containing some kind of malware. In that case it's legal to remove the protection in order to prevent the malware.
If you buy the disk, you can make a copy legally for backup purposes or for format shifting.
@Jake
badweasel knows that he would be able to make a legal copy of the disks that he purchased. His complaint is that the article implies that he would have to pay an additional fee in order to make that legal copy of the disk that he already purchased. An example might be paying $20 for the BD + $5 to make the managed copy (I'm just throwing numbers out there, we don't know how much copies will cost).
@badweasel
I could see the studios selling dual versions on BD, one with MC and one without, and they would of course charge a slight premium for the discs with MC on them. Then the MC discs could include a coupon for a free managed copy, that would cover people buying discs, yet still allowing for rent, rip, & return customers to pay for their managed copy. Also, I think MC is going to require new hardware (not sure if this is accurate), so selling dual versions would allow customers to get the latest movies on BD without upgrading their players. That's what I'm hoping will happen.
@Jake: this is why non-lawyers shouldn't hand out advice on the Internet.
It is NOT legal to make a copy for backup purposes or format shifting if the content is encrypted. Go read the DMCA. Yes, it does seem to conflict with fair use, but it hasn't been struck down by any court.
I agree that the whole idea of paying for managed copy is stupid, and I have no interest, but you should be aware that using AnyDVD or some other method to decrypt/rip your Blu-Ray (or DVD, or...) is a violation of the DMCA and against the law.
@Chris you're actually wrong. It's wrong to "circumvent" the encryption, but you can make legal backups in many ways that do not involve either circumventing it. Here are 2 ways:
1) Project the image to a wall or display on TV and record using a video camera. The MPAA has actually cited this as a legal means of making copies of DVDs.
2) Make a bit-for-bit copy with the encryption intact. If you didn't decrypt it, you didn't violate the law.
There are no doubt many other ways. Don't fall for the FUD folks-- making backup copies & making copies of any media, DRM encrypted or not, is perfectly legal.
**This has been a public service announcement**