Jari Ketola
4 Oct 2002 14:40
321 Studios are about to release a new package for DVD copying. Their first product, DVD Copy Plus was intended for copying DVDs on CDs. They are now about to lauch DVD X Copy, which claims to make bit-to-bit copies of DVDs with a regular recordable DVD-drive.
As we reported in April, 321 Studios asked a San Francisco court to rule on the legitimacy of their product. According to DMCA the package, intended solely for backing up DVDs owned by the consumer, is illegal, because it uses a copyright circumvention algorithm to descramble the CSS encryption used on DVDs. However 321 Studios argue that the DMCA in this case is unconstitutional, because it prevents the fair use of a product. Consumers are allowed to make copies of VHS movies for personal use, but thanks to DMCA, it is impossible to do legally with DVDs.
Major movie studios, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice have asked the Californian court to dismiss the case altogether. Clearly a ruling in the case would have noticeable consequences -- if the software is deemed legal, then DMCA is invalid, and if it's ruled to be illegal, the court, in essence, rules that DMCA takes precedence over the United States constitution.
The case still rises quite a few eyebrows in the AfterDawn staff, as I'm sure it does with among our users. 321 Studios is still, at least to my knowledge, selling software and information found and distributed free of charge on the Internet. And we all know that making identical copies of 9 gigabyte DVDs is impossible with current DVD-recordables. Take a look at our discussion forums to get more insight on the matter of DVD-9 backups.
Source:
Yahoo! News