DRM, not just talkin' rippin' CD's...

[Steven Cedrone]

I decided to copy a DVD to VHS so that my kids could watch their favorite movie at Grandma's house, and what have I found...

It is not going to happen...

We always talk about not letting the RIAA get away with DRM on CD's, do we all realise they (and their counterparts in the MPAA) have already won on the VHS and DVD front???

Macrovision...

Macrovision prevents us from making even a backup copy of media we have already purchased. I know ways around it, but it bothers me that again, you have to do something considered criminal to be able do what you should have a right to do in the first place. I am sure that if you ask the Disney company(or anyone else that produces DVD's), they would say: "If you want a backup copy, buy a second DVD or VHS tape)...



Steve

[targetdrone]

I bought a Magnavox VR9960 vhs vcr back when that model first came out. ('89?) I have bought others since then, but this is the one that I keep. Why? Because it's 4-head, stereo, and..... old enough that Macrovision wasn't around then and this vcr is immune to its effects.

I have taken it apart to clean and fix the autostop mechanism, but I fear it may be near the end of its service life. I hope it never dies!!

At least now (for now), I can rip movies that I own on DVD and convert and watch them on my PPC.

[Janak Parekh]

Well, this is why a lot of people consider DRM to be Digital "Restrictions" Management, not Digital "Rights" Management. Unfortunately, the average American doesn't see this as a priority problem, so our ability to reproduce is slowly being taken away. :cry:

--janak

[Weyoun6]

There is a surcharge on blank VHS tapes because they were afraid that people would be mass copying of videos, and they were going to lose gazillions of profits.

Didnt happen then.
Why would it happen now?

The movie, book, music industries simply do not understand new tech. If they had welcomed DVD with open arms insted of working on CSS for 5 years, where do you think the format would be now?

BTW, I think you can output to VHS from your pc.

[JvanEkris]

I bought a Magnavox VR9960 vhs vcr back when that model first came out. ('89?) I have bought others since then, but this is the one that I keep. Why? Because it's 4-head, stereo, and..... old enough that Macrovision wasn't around then and this vcr is immune to its effects. I hope it never dies!! That's why i love my very old SCSI CD player: it is antique, but it behaves exactly like a normal CD player :). I can read every CD at 1-speed. But i can read it :)

Jaap