[MPlayer-users] DeCSS legal status

[Brett Kosinski]

> > [Automatic answer: RTFM (read DOCS, FAQ), also read DOCS/bugreports.html]
> >
> > >I don't think so. Just explicitly disable -dump*, -vo mpegpes, etc. on the
> > mplayer
> > >binary on the cd and it's clear that you've made something that can't be
> > used for copying.
> >
> > As correct as this statment is, it is also true that DeCSS is in fact used
> > to watch the DVD.
> > Since DeCSS is circumventing CSS, it is a conflict with the DMCA...
> >
> > AFAIK, everytime we watch a legaly bought DVD with DeCSS, we are breaking
> > the law :)
> >
> > But, this is pure legalese sh*t, it can be used almost everywhere except for
> > the US.
>
> There has never been such a ruling, and probably not even such a claim.
> The reason the lawyers go after decss itself (the source) is probably
> because it can be used in making something to copy dvds. That's quite
> different from a binary that only plays them. Rich

Oooh, do keep in mind that players must be licensed by the DVD consortium,
or whatever it is.  This is how players get legal copies of the DVD keys.
So creating a player without such a license may very well be illegal.

Brett.