more on Movie Industry Sues More DVD Chip Makers on Piracy

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tim Onosko <tim () onosko com>
Date: August 24, 2004 8:59:40 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Movie Industry Sues More DVD Chip Makers on Piracy

Dave:

I have some insight into this that I can share with the list, regarding  
what "appropriate" security features are, according to the MPAA.  They  
are in total, three.

1) The ability to capture or intercept a DeCSS'd (unencrypted) video  
stream.  This has upset the studios before, although there is plenty of  
commonly available software that effectively does the same thing, and  
much easier, as well.

2) The ability to defeat Macrovision and/or CGMS, copy protection  
systems that prevent the analog output from being recorded on a VHS or  
DVD video recorder.  There are simple hacks for many (if not the  
majority) of the players that have been manufactured to defeat  
Macrovision and/or CGMS.

3) The ability to defeat "region coding."  That is, every DVD player is  
designed to play programs meant for its own region only.  But in most  
nations of the world, the players are hacked so that others outside the  
USA can buy and enjoy DVDs produced for the American domestic market.   
In the beginning, before various nations developed their own DVD  
programming, this is how DVD gained popularity as a medium.   
Region-free players are common outside the US, and in Asia, for  
instance, they are the rule rather than the exception.  The hypocrisy  
of this is best illustrated by the fact that Amazon.com sells only US  
discs for the US market, while Amazon sites around the world offer US  
discs for foreign markets, and sell region-free players to encourage  
the practice.  (Most DVD players already play PAL TV signals on NTSC  
television sets, and vice versa.)

There are, by the way, common PC programs for defeating the last two of  
these, as well.  The MPAA's action, it seems to me, is only like a  
finger in the dike, trying to prevent customers from doing whatever  
they want to with this medium.  And, to some extent, this action does  
seem a bit like biting the hand that feeds you, since it was cheap VLSI  
chips like these that led to sub-$50 Chinese-made DVD players and  
greater than 60% penetration of the medium in the United States.  A  
HUGE win for the movie business.



At 04:39 PM 8/24/2004, you wrote:

> ___
>
> Dave Farber  +1 412 726 9889
>
>
>
> ...... Forwarded Message .......
> From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ibd com>
> To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>, Dave Farber  
> <dave () farber net>
> Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 13:16:46 -0700
> Subj: Movie Industry Sues More DVD Chip Makers on Piracy
>
> Movie Industry Sues More DVD Chip Makers on Piracy
> Tue Aug 24,11:06 AM ET
> http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040824/media_nm/ 
> tech_dvd_suit_
> dc_3
>
>
>
> LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -  The representative for Hollywood's major movie
> studios on Monday said its members have sued two microchip makers,  
> alleging
> they sold their products to makers of equipment that can be used to
> illegally copy DVDs.
>
>
>  The suits are the latest legal action by the Motion Picture  
> Association of
> America, which claims its members loose billions of dollars annually to
> copyright piracy.
>
>  The MPAA said the suits against Sigma Designs Inc. (Nasdaq:SIGM -  
> news) and
> MediaTek Inc. (2454.TW) followed testing that it said proved the two  
> were
> selling microchips to companies, whose DVD players lack what the MPAA  
> called
> "appropriate security features."
>
>  The suits were filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles.
>
>  Sigma and MediaTek make chips to decode the Content Scramble System,  
> or
> CSS, which is the copy-protection system used for DVDs. Their licenses
> require that they sell only to other CSS-licensed companies.
>
>  A spokesman for Milpitas, California-based Sigma was not immediately
> available to comment, nor was a spokesman for Taiwan-based MediaTek.
>
>  The CSS license pact has aided the success of DVDs because it has  
> provided
> protection against illegal copying to copyright owners of movies,  
> television
> shows and other content sold on DVD.
>
>  In July a California court issued a preliminary injunction barring ESS
> Technology Inc. (Nasdaq:ESST - news) from selling its own CSS-decoding  
> chips
> to unlicensed makers of DVD players.
>
>  The MPAA, recognizing the damage the advent of digital file-sharing  
> did to
> the music industry, has waged an aggressive campaign against movie  
> piracy.
> It has sued people and companies for purported acts of piracy and  
> rewarded
> movie projectionists for turning in people who make illegal recordings  
> in
> theaters.
>
>  Last week it was dealt a blow as a federal appeals court said a  
> number of
> notable makers of file-sharing software could not be held liable for
> copyright infringement. They had been sued by movie and music  
> companies who
> claimed they should be held liable because of how their software was  
> used.
>
>
>
> --
> Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC.
> Voice: 408-882-4755 eFax: +1-408-490-2868
> http://www.ibd.com
>
>
>
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