Re: Archive of patent-encumbered software
On Tue, 4 Dec 2001 04:46, Branden Robinson wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 03, 2001 at 07:25:13PM -0600, Adam Majer wrote:
> > Why do they even encrypt the DVD?? If people want to pirate it, there
> > is __ALWAYS__ a way. It seems hopeless - people are no loger in
> > control, greed is.
>
> DVD encryption isn't about stopping "piracy", and never was. It's about
> laying the foundation for a future rewrite of Title 17 of the United
> States Code in which the term "Fair Use" does not appear.
Also it makes it much easier to have pricing disparities between countries.
For a long time there have been issues of international book pricing. For
example book companies would charge higher rates in Australia than for the
same books in the US, and they engaged in a lot of shady activity to try and
stop the "gray market" in books (which mostly succeeded for commercial book
sales). It used to be common for Australians to buy large quantities of
books when visiting the US as it gave the potential for greater savings than
duty free alcohol (unless you bought more expensive drinks than most people
consume).
Last time I was DVD shopping in Australia the DVD prices were all at least
50% greater than advertised from American mail-order companies. But the
region issue prevented most Australians from purchasing.
While I agree that "fair use" is one target of CSS, I think it's not the only
target and probably not the main target.
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