--- Forwarded Message from Chris Meyer <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:20:50 -0400
>From: Chris Meyer <[log in to unmask]>
>User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.17 (Windows/20080914)
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum   
<[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #8970.2 (!) Video clips
>References: <[log in to unmask]>
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>

I just wanted to provide a few footnotes to Judy's post:

1) The so-called* encryption on DVDs is called CSS, not RSS. CSS stands 
for Content Scrambling System; RSS stands for (depending on whom you 
ask) Really Simple Syndication or RDF Site Summary. Both expansions of 
RSS refer to the same thing, namely automatic syndication of news items.

2) In the case of Jon Johansen, author of the DeCSS tool for 
circumventing CSS protection, he was acquitted--however, that was in a 
Norwegian court in 2003. The free speech aspect played a major part, and 
in the US even today you can get the source code for the decryption 
program to compile yourself, including on T-shirts and neckties, as 
haiku, and even performed as the lyrics to a fairly listenable song 
(source: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/)--all ruled as free 
speech in the US.

3) RealNetworks, on the other hand, just two weeks ago received an 
injunction against them for their RealDVD program 
(http://www.realdvd.com/), which among other things allowed 
circumvention of CSS protection in order to copy a DVD to a hard drive 
for backup purposes. This is much more current than DVD Jon and much 
closer to home for most of us. The courts have stopped sales of RealDVD 
and documents are being studies by a judge right now.

4) IANAL and none of this is legal advice, just an illustration of how 
grey the original question can be by pointing out two extremes. I 
recommend consulting with your university's legal department to see how 
far it's willing to go with you on this issue if the question becomes 
more than hypothetical. Also look into the work done by the EFF 
(http://eff.org) in legalizing the work we have to do for our jobs.

Apologies for muddying the waters, but it's demonstrably less than clear 
what the legal standing of your question is. I hope this was, if not 
helpful, at least enlightening.

* (I say "so-called" because, by most accounts, the quality of the 
security was laughable at best.)

-Chris Meyer
Programmer/Analyst
Yale Center for Language Study


LLTI-Editor wrote:
> --- Forwarded Message from Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]> ---
> 
>  > So is it circumventing the coding to take the analog output of a DVD
> player
>  > and send it to a digital media converter to capture the video with or
>  > without subtitles?  I know the quality is slightly lower but by the
> time you
>  > compress it it shouldn't make any difference.-- Tom Browne
> 
> The encoding in question is installed to prevent copying (or, in the
> case of regional encoding, to prevent its being played on a different
> region player. I believe the anti-copying encoding is called RSS. In
> order to "rip" a clip from a disk with RSS, one needs a program or
> player which circumvents the anti-copying/regional code. It is not
> difficult to do this but it is illegal.
> 
> The ruling allowing film and media instructors to circumvent these codes
> implies that the act of creating a short clip for classroom use
> (face-to-face teaching) from a piece of media that does *not* have this
> encoding is legal.
> 
> That is to say, the reformatting necessary to make a video clip from a
> VHS or DVD falls under fair use. As you note, the original will look
> better, but sometimes clips are more convenient.
> 
> I should add that some DVD companies on the videolibrarians' list
> (notably Kino) think it is fine to make a clip from their videos for
> classroom use, whether or not it involves circumventing a RSS code.
> 
> Judy Shoaf




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