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Thread: Playing DVDs and Other Media on Linux

  1. #1
    Ah, Mrs. Peel! mike_w's Avatar
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    Playing DVDs and Other Media on Linux

    Could somebody be very nice and explain to me the situation of media on Linux at the moment? I've tried looking it up, but some of the information I've read has been conflicting. Essentially, I'm not entirely sure about the legality of using the different formats on Linux.

    So far as I understand, in order to watch (most) DVDs, you need to bypass the CSS protection (or whatever it is), which is illegal in some countries. Is it legal in the UK? (Since the articles I read only mentioned the US, which wasn't particularly helpful)

    Also, is it legal to use w32codecs?

    Thanks for any advice

    Mike.
    "Well, there was your Uncle Tiberius who died wrapped in cabbage leaves but we assumed that was a freak accident."

  2. #2
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    The film companies haven't released a CSS decrypter for Linux, so it was up to the community to create one. If I have to break the law to play my legally bought DVDs on Linux, I'm doing it.

    As for w32codecs, also probably not legal, but again no one using Linux cares. How else are we to play all the videos that get put up on the 'net.

    It's the same with other things, like the MS Office file formats and NTFS.

  3. #3
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    afaik w32codecs is probibly legal because the source code isn't revealed, you'll have to read the licence for the DVD decrypting module, i havn't bothered since i don't really care
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  4. #4
    smtkr
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    Everything mentioned above is illegal in the United States. I can't help you with the U.K. My guess is that, being a EU country, your laws are as oppressive than ours (or more so).

    I don't watch DVDs on my PC, so I don't have to bother with it. I have the win32 codecs installed on my PC. The format I use most is completely legal--xvid mpeg4s. All run well with XINE.

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    I couldn't see how a set of binaries are legal on one operating system and not the other.. It really depends on the individual licences of the codecs.
    Quote Originally Posted by Agent View Post
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  6. #6
    smtkr
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    It's because you have to pay the cartel a licensing fee to decode CSS. So, for example, Microsoft has to pay the cartel for windows media player, intervideo has to pay the cartel for windvd, etc.

    It's not enough that you buy the content.

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