regions and legalities

[Jonathan Locke]

i'm not sure if this is the right list for this question, but if it's not
maybe someone knows what list i should post to. i'm an open source author
(jakarta regexp, wicket) and i'm starting up a small company and we want to
use videolan in our project to play dvds (in an applet in a web browser,
which means i'm interested in finding a way to help the java bindings for
videolan along somehow). but we want to respect the current interpretation
of the law as much as we can. frankly, i don't understand exactly what
we're being asked to do by the MPAA and friends, but it appears that if we
use videolan to create a product that doesn't restrict playing to a given
region, we might be in violation of US law (DMCA?). is there a source where
i can get a definitive answer to that question? what are other companies
doing in terms of integrating videolan into their public-facing projects?
did google switch from videolan to macromedia because of decss issues?
finally, is it easy or even possible to tie videolan to a single region so
it works like a regular dvd player? that seems like the right solution in
the current environment because it seems like it couldn't possibly be
problematic for us legally. of course, with the MPAA who knows what will be
illegal tomorrow... thanks!

jon

[Benjamin Pracht]

Post by Jonathan Locke
i'm not sure if this is the right list for this question, but if it's
not maybe someone knows what list i should post to. i'm an open
source author (jakarta regexp, wicket) and i'm starting up a small
company and we want to use videolan in our project to play dvds (in an
applet in a web browser, which means i'm interested in finding a way
to help the java bindings for videolan along somehow). but we want to
respect the current interpretation of the law as much as we can.
frankly, i don't understand exactly what we're being asked to do by
the MPAA and friends, but it appears that if we use videolan to create
a product that doesn't restrict playing to a given region, we might be
in violation of US law (DMCA?).

Well, I'm not sure anybody could pretend having any definitive opinion
on the subject. Moreover, regulations are not the same worldwide on the
subject...

Post by Jonathan Locke
is there a source where i can get a definitive answer to that
question? what are other companies doing in terms of integrating
videolan into their public-facing projects? did google switch from
videolan to macromedia because of decss issues?

AFAIK, google didn't include decss support in its videolan based google
player. I see the move more related to the fact drm and open source
being quite incompatible, at least with the current DRM methods, and
flash player being pre installed on almost every computer sold in the
world. I'm not sure about that, but it might also be that vp6 royalties
are lower than the one the mpegla asks for mpeg codecs.

Post by Jonathan Locke
finally, is it easy or even possible to tie videolan to a single
region so it works like a regular dvd player?

Well, if you really need dvd support in your app, and want to tie it to
a zone, I guess it might be possible to add a check in libdvdcss (I'm
not a libdvdcss developer, so again, that's only a guess). However, keep
in mind that libdvdcss won't allow to read dvds outside the drive's zone
with any dvd drive sold for a few years anyway (manufacturers introduced
a low level check in their firmwares). Moreover, it seems Linspire
managed to get a license from the dvd consortium for a xine version
using an unmodified libdvdcss (I guess you'll need such a license too,
and perhaps one for MPEG PS demuxing and MPEG2 video / AC3 decoding,
depending on the amount of software licenses you are planning to sell).

Well, anyway, the only way to get a valid answer would be to ask the dvd
consortium, if they care answering to you... But the answer you'll get
will be with their (quite biased ;) interpretation of the US law.

Post by Jonathan Locke
that seems like the right solution in the current environment because
it seems like it couldn't possibly be problematic for us legally. of
course, with the MPAA who knows what will be illegal tomorrow...
thanks!

Frankly, I really doubt there are lots of people who know what is
illegal today...

[Diego Biurrun]

Post by Jonathan Locke
i'm not sure if this is the right list for this question, but if it's not
maybe someone knows what list i should post to. i'm an open source author
(jakarta regexp, wicket) and i'm starting up a small company and we want to
use videolan in our project to play dvds (in an applet in a web browser,
which means i'm interested in finding a way to help the java bindings for
videolan along somehow). but we want to respect the current interpretation
of the law as much as we can.

Since there is no such thing as "the law", it is impossible to answer
your question. Different countries have different laws. You only have
to care about the law of the country you live in and/or do business
with. Furthermore, laws vary wildly. For example, in Switzerland CSS
is forbidden because country-based restriction schemes are illegal...

Diego