It's guys like you that undercut the "fair use" argument. If only the cracks were available for use by those that own the discs to make "backups", then fair use would apply. But that the torrents themselves are available, and guys like you celebrate that and download them, shows that this isn't about fair use, it's about piracy. If it weren't for guys like you, there wouldn't be DRM to begin with.
Although I'm not going to make use of these cracks (I've never bothered to make "backups" of commercial DVDs even though that's been easily doable for years), I do appreciate that the cracks open up the the various "fair use" scenarios. But engadget should stop being intellectually dishonest and admit that these cracks are by and large used for piracy (by guys like you) when they continue to advocate cracking DRM.
BTW, the second and third Matrix movies sucked. :p
"It's guys like you" - and it's girls like you that make baseless assertions based on an inadequate appreciation for all the factors involved. DRM is control - nothing more, nothing less.
You forgot a more critical argument- region control. I live in China- region 6. The US is region 1. I can 1- buy pirated all-region discs on the street to play 2- wait for the official release (which usually comes months to a year after the US release, the lone exception being Spiderman 3) 3- buy a US disc and play it on my- but oh, the DVD player I have has *region control* and I don't know the code to crack it (it's a Shinco if you can help the situation any) if there even IS one. 1 is out of the question because I don't want to be arrested by Customs, 2 is out of the question for someone as whiny as my sister (she gets straight A's, honor roll, the works- and my mom thinks that she gets the right to make all the demands she wants because of that), and 3- *region control*. So, that leaves torrents. Torrents aren't region-controlled.
If these companies are concerned about money in the first place (the whole argument against piracy makes that clear), then the idea they don't recognize the potential cash cow from technologically circumventing fair use rights, forcing consumers to buy multiple copies of everything (or new copies of old copies are destroyed) is just nuts.
Of *course* we'd have DRM if there were no piracy. It's too good an opportunity to pass up when it comes to making money.
Now, would circumventing DRM be illegal if it weren't for piracy? Perhaps...it depends upon whether the companies could still get laws passed by claiming piracy was a problem. Part of that effort, of course, would have to consist of re-defining "piracy" so that it no longer means "selling someone else's work for your own financial gain", and now means everything from that to the kid who hands his friends a cassette copy of a song. The latter, of course, has been going on for decades, but only now that DRM is available has that become a huge issue. Kind of puts things in perspective.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Molly C @ May 17th 2007 10:22AM
It's guys like you that undercut the "fair use" argument. If only the cracks were available for use by those that own the discs to make "backups", then fair use would apply. But that the torrents themselves are available, and guys like you celebrate that and download them, shows that this isn't about fair use, it's about piracy. If it weren't for guys like you, there wouldn't be DRM to begin with.
Although I'm not going to make use of these cracks (I've never bothered to make "backups" of commercial DVDs even though that's been easily doable for years), I do appreciate that the cracks open up the the various "fair use" scenarios. But engadget should stop being intellectually dishonest and admit that these cracks are by and large used for piracy (by guys like you) when they continue to advocate cracking DRM.
BTW, the second and third Matrix movies sucked. :p
Joe @ May 17th 2007 10:33AM
Molly,
"It's guys like you" - and it's girls like you that make baseless assertions based on an inadequate appreciation for all the factors involved. DRM is control - nothing more, nothing less.
Damn, you sound like a whiny tattle-tale.
Joe
Jamar @ May 17th 2007 10:56AM
You forgot a more critical argument- region control. I live in China- region 6. The US is region 1. I can
1- buy pirated all-region discs on the street to play
2- wait for the official release (which usually comes months to a year after the US release, the lone exception being Spiderman 3)
3- buy a US disc and play it on my- but oh, the DVD player I have has *region control* and I don't know the code to crack it (it's a Shinco if you can help the situation any) if there even IS one.
1 is out of the question because I don't want to be arrested by Customs, 2 is out of the question for someone as whiny as my sister (she gets straight A's, honor roll, the works- and my mom thinks that she gets the right to make all the demands she wants because of that), and 3- *region control*. So, that leaves torrents. Torrents aren't region-controlled.
Kythe @ May 17th 2007 3:32PM
No offense, Molly, but this is silly.
If these companies are concerned about money in the first place (the whole argument against piracy makes that clear), then the idea they don't recognize the potential cash cow from technologically circumventing fair use rights, forcing consumers to buy multiple copies of everything (or new copies of old copies are destroyed) is just nuts.
Of *course* we'd have DRM if there were no piracy. It's too good an opportunity to pass up when it comes to making money.
Now, would circumventing DRM be illegal if it weren't for piracy? Perhaps...it depends upon whether the companies could still get laws passed by claiming piracy was a problem. Part of that effort, of course, would have to consist of re-defining "piracy" so that it no longer means "selling someone else's work for your own financial gain", and now means everything from that to the kid who hands his friends a cassette copy of a song. The latter, of course, has been going on for decades, but only now that DRM is available has that become a huge issue. Kind of puts things in perspective.