After eight months of deliberation, a San Francisco federal judge has ruled that software company 321 Studios' popular DVD-copying products are illegal.

In a ruling released Friday, Judge Susan Illston granted Hollywood studios' request for an injunction against 321 Studios, saying the small software company has seven days to stop distributing its DVD-copying products.

The case was widely viewed as a test of how far commercial software could go in helping consumers make backup copies of their own legally purchased digital entertainment products, such as DVDs or video games. Illston wrote that federal law made it illegal to sell products that--like 321 Studios' software--break through DVDs' antipiracy technology, even if consumers do have a legal right to make personal copies of their movies.

"It is the technology itself at issue, not the uses to which the copyrighted material may be put," Illston wrote. "Legal downstream use of the copyrighted material by customers is not a defense to the software manufacturer's violation of the provisions (of copyright law)."

"We can't just lay down for this," 321 Studios President Robert Moore said. "It is too important for the consumer; it is far too important to the evolution of our culture...We think the final battle will be fought at the Supreme Court or at the congressional level."

Complete Story at NY Times.

So, anti-copy protection trumps the Home Recording Act. This won't be reversed or overturned.

"We can't just lay down for this," 321 Studios President Robert Moore said. "It is too important for the consumer; it is far too important to the evolution of our culture..."

Yet another good man is stricken down by the hand of evil. See, not all big companies are evil.

What a contradiction, so someone has a legal right to copy a dvd for personal use, but then looses that right if the dvd has antipiracy technology in it.
Plain and simple, copying dvd's is legal for personal use and illilegal for personal use.
Now that we have that solved, lets focus on something that makes sense.

oh no, they "ruled dvd copying illegal"...guess no more copying dvds...they can "rule" all they want, but is that going to stop us? no. from now on, we are going to do what we want to do. let them pass all the rules and acts they want.

Just one question: Am I mistaken on this, or was this the same (bought-and-paid-for) judge who had one of the Internet providers' challenges against the RIAA switched to the D.C. court which is known to be in the RIAA's pockets (and, thus, have the deck stacked against the consumer as usual)? I vaguely remember something to that effect . . .

Whatever the case, this is just one more case that underscores the multinational entertainment-media complex's having practically everybody in high places in their pockets: key people in government, Congressmen and Senators, judges, the news media, and our so-called "educational" system. And they have become, sad to say, uber-entrenched in this regard, so that this is yet another example of disenfranchisement and enslavement.

In short: Judicial tyranny + copyright tyranny = bad news for us all. And further underscores the very definition of a dictatorship, where the will of the people is overruled by those in power, whereas in a free and open society those in power are overruled by the will of the people.

Also (on another topic): Wasn't Judge Ilston one of those who refused to hear challenges by conservative groups over 'Frisco's gay-wedding orgy?

The case focused on CSS circumvention, not the copying itself. 321 can still sell XCopy just not with an internal ripper included. 321 had to do this in Australia already.

Unless a sane judge reverses this Xcopy is now going to be like Elby's Clone DVD - you need an external ripper like DVDDecrypter or Smartripper to remove the macrovision and region coding.

This is what MPAA wanted. They couldn't get a ruling against making legitimate backups so they went after the means to do so. This is bad news for Elby's AnyDVD, Nero's Recode, VSO's Copy to DVD and all other companies offering products that circumvent CSS. They'll eventually go after websites offering the freeware rippers as well if this isn't stopped.

California judges need to be drug out and shot.

this is crap, I use a free dvd riping tool, so iim not worried yet, but yeah the judges are too f'ed up all over the world. I use DVDDecrypter, with my 200GB hd i rip DVD ISOs straight to my HD, and veiw them macrovision free off of the drive.

Ok, this probably won't be popular here but I have to side with the MPAA on this one. If they don't want people to be able to back up their product, so be it. Then I for one, will never buy their product. Just as I would never purchase a DRM'd CD, I wouldn't purchase a DRM'd DVD. Let them do what they want.

I can just see Hack Valenti, dressed in his black clock, eyes glowing red in the darkness of his inner sanctum....sipping on a thick, blood red drink, and dancing the tarantella when he hears this news.

I still have not found anyone who has seen Valenti's reflection in any mirror, or who can explain how he ventures into the sunlight without bursting into flames...

Perhaps he has acquired the black cross of Bursier...(referring to the movie VAMPIRES )

dressed in a black cloak i meant..however, the black clock analogy is even more intriguing

great post kyodylee...

Look, these jerks that don't want us to play reindeer games with their songs and movies...so be it...don't buy/don't rip...don't download...

But, I am a bit mystified by this ruling...
But, if money changed hands and someone got a nicer black robe...it would all be clear as crystal.

"Just one question: Am I mistaken on this, or was this the same (bought-and-paid-for) judge who had one of the Internet providers' challenges against the RIAA switched to the D.C. court which is known to be in the RIAA's pockets"

Stop being such an idiot with your bought and paid for judges garbage. The DC court rule AGAINST the RIAA! Jeebus!

kyodylee, Almost every factory DVD ever produced has DRM - it's called CSS. It's not something new they are going to start doing. It's the equivalent of every factory CD ever made being DRMed.

Letting them do what the want isn't going to help anybody.

Keep in mind people, this is just the start. If this isn't reversed then mpaa will go after everything - even our beloved freeware apps like DVDDecrypter, Smartripper and DVDShrink. Every site that offers them for download will be in legal peril.

Don't turn your back and think it will end happy.

Make that "rule against". How can the DC Court be "known to be in the RIAA's pockets" when they ruled against the RIAA. When it is a decision you don't like the judges are paid off. When it is a decision you do like it's: Yeah! Gimme a freaking break.

DVDXCopy may be the most popular dvd copying software because of it's commercial presence, but let's not forget that shutting them down doesn't shut down the thousands of other software developers that have coded dvd copying software.

Brief browsing of afterdawn.com will put you a click away from thousands of free software tools for copying, ripping, and pretty much doing anything else to most any media. Banning dvdxcopy seems to be a moot point.

This should have been expected though. DVD Ripping and copying software violates DMCA, and is illegal. This ruling didn't make copying a DVD illegal, it enforced DMCA law that states reverse engineering of copy protection schemes is illegal. Every dvd ripping and copyright program available is illegal under DMCA.

Hopefully this will be what brings DMCA down.

dvdripping and copying program*

Mroop I conceed to you on this. you are 100% correct in your assertion. but do you see how much more effective you'd be if you didn't resort to the childish name calling??

"Stop being such an idiot with your bought and paid for judges garbage. The DC court rule AGAINST the RIAA! Jeebus"

see how unprofessional that sounds? reguardless how silly you consider peoples statements

"kyodylee, Almost every factory DVD ever produced has DRM - it's called CSS. It's not something new..."

Thanks, zuckuss. I see now. I only own 2 DVDs, one by George Harrison and one by Paul McCartney. I'm not a movie buff!

Boycott music is ok, but let step it up with letters to all their corps. Saying we will not buy any of their products, from music on down to cdplayers, tvs etc. What ever company they own we will boycott it not just music.

hawk -- Try it. You'll find that, much like Microsoft, it's almost impossible to keep the RIAA, their parent companies and offspring out of your home.

Blank CDs? Sony and Philips (the latter of which used to own Polygram) get paid for all of them. CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox,... turn off the TV, especially if it's a Sony. And of course radio is out of the question.

Newspapers are almost all owned by the media conglomerates, which are either based in the movie or music industry. You'll have to stop reading them too, if you still do.

Magazines fall into the same blanket ownership patterns and since BMG is one of the largest book publishers as well, it's a long trip to sensory deprivation and, eventually, illiteracy.

What we need is a musician's strike.

I think all musicians should refuse to release any more recordings until the bullshit comes to a halt and a reasonable playing field is established.

Hell, for all we know, maybe part of the record industry's problem is that they can't get anyone good to sign up. Maybe the musicians are finally wising up.

If this is the case, and I have no evidence to support either side other than the apparent lack of something interesting in the major labels' portfolio, then the industry's problems have just begun.

"see how unprofessional that sounds? reguardless how silly you consider peoples statements"

Well, I was calm the first time I responded to W-B here:

http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/10535

But second time was too much. : ) It's funny how so many people around here were complaining about the DC court being paid off, being in the pocket of the RIAA, etc. That was until the RIAA lost in the DC court. Duh.

if you were civil once you can always be civil if you try.

So we are not allowed to backup protected DVD's ourselves. We do have a right to a backup though, so shouldn't the MPAA be required to give us backups?

great question. that would be an interesting court case.

since we have a law that says it is fair use and legal to back up legally purchased music and movies, then another law (DMCA) is passed prohibiting us from doing that is there a legal conflict?? would that portion of the DMCA be in violation of the previous law? How do judges usually rule on something like that?

Also wouldn't that make the industry in violation of the law by preventing us from doing what we are legally allowed to do?? Any legal experts out there have an answer?

I didn't like the 8-second "If you are viewing this and don't own the original, you are going to go to jail" warning against the stark black background - that 321 Studio software put on every copied dvd I made. You can't fast forward through it. I read the rationale - it was so that they could prove to the court that the software was meant to be used by the law-abiding consumer backing up a copy of legally bought and paid for dvd. It was deliberately put there to discourage copying dvds that were rented or borrowed. The company felt that law-abiding people wouldn't mind it. Law-breaking people wouldn't use it. Well, I thought the warning was ugly and lasted too long but I thought maybe that was needed to win their court case.
Guess not.

hmm seems like the judge has never had a two year old go wild on his dvd colection before. O wait a minute. Thats right his vcr clock still blinks nevermind.

Between this and the fact that both Bush and Kerry are wanting to strengthen NAFTA, I'm getting very frustrated and disgusted and discouraged. Need some buffering up here...

"Yeah! Gimme a freaking break."

Would that request be for a metacarpal, ishial, costochondral, or femoral ?

LOLOLOL....

I wonder what happens to all the people who purchased DVD X Copy.

Can they still use it or do they have to uninstall it? Will they get a refund or trade in for the other NO CSS version?

"It is the technology itself at issue, not the uses to which the copyrighted material may be put," Illston wrote. "Legal downstream use of the copyrighted material by customers is not a defense to the software manufacturer's violation of the provisions (of copyright law)."

Fair use anyone?

Well, it'll still be for sale in my future home, Canada.

Oh and until the MPAA offers me an invulnerable copy of the product I purchased I will never stop backing up my DVD's no matter how much DRM they put on it.

A few of the things a divx file offers over DVDs:
-able to store a movie on a CD instead of a DVD.
-Able to store on your harddrive for quick easy access to an indexed listing.
-Able to bypass the retarded menu systems and the long delays on the FBI warning. (oh oh, that's becoming convienent)
-Makes me feel special.....

kyodylee, no prob. CSS protection was built into the DVD spec before they started producing them.

LXI - you nailed it! I've backed up all my frequently loaned DVDs so I don't have to worry about them coming back damaged - if at all. I also did all my out of print DVDs and my Criterions because they're all too damn expensive or impossible to replace.

I agree that if we're not "allowed" to back them up then the studios better god damn well replace them and even for the slightest scratch. Disney would rethink their position when they get flooded with thousands of their discs needing replaced because kids think they make neat little frisbees.

crawdd - don't count on it for long.

you nailed it Zuckass mine just tossed her copy of alice in wonderland. And she did it with a big old smile too.

WOW... zuckusss AND ALL....WE SHOULD REVOLT.....
...IF WE REALLY WANT TO BUY A RIAA CD, OR A DVD, WE SHOULD PURCHASE IT AND DELIBERATELY but carefully SCRATCH IT, AND GET IT EXCHANGED FOR ANOTHER ONE (within the stores' return/exchange policies), AND THEN SCRATCH IT AGAIN, CLAIMING IT'S FREAKIN DAMAGED AGAIN.

((i'm assuming that the store will return defective items back to the company that distributed or produced the DVD))

...of course, do at your own risk...

AND KEEP ON DOING THIS UNTIL THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS PISSED OF.... THEN JUST GO TO THE STORE AT ANOTHER LOCATION

Why the fuck do u think they made DVDs so easy to scratch? So people keep having to replace, and replace and replace.

But if you use backup copies, then u can keep the original safe, and u wouldn't have to keep replacing. So they decide to fight the firms that let u make backup copies.

This ruling kills innovation. Severely hurts the consumer electronics industry. Stops anyone from delevoping new products that could copy DVD's to a hard drive. Having movies on portable devices and home theater servers would had became a huge item.

Anything with DRM on it is already damaged.

Very well put, Shmoo.

Now Now, the judge didn't say we couldn't copy, only we can't copy digitally. So anything we copy has to be substandard from the original.

Now I know why the RIAA and the MPAA don't warranty music and movies. Cause they know if you wreck your cd, you'll have buy another. If it's out of print, then I guess it's your loss. The RIAA and the MPAA takes your money and then laughs at you cause they think we are all stupid.

I have bought DVD X COPY, and I am glad I did. The program works great and I made backup copies of all the DVD movies that I bought, all $2,800 worth.

I know if something were to happen to my original DVD collection, fire, flood, then the MPAA would love for me to spend another $2,800 to buy new DVDS.

The MPAA talks about protecting there copyrights, but what about my rights as a consumer and my investment? The MPAA thinks that us, the consumer, would sell the shirt off our back just to buy into that next great movie.

Thats a crackhead judge.

i hate to say it but to quote a riaa artist "its just another brick in the wall" seperating us from our rights

Ok, first, items returned to the store as defective come out of the store's operating budget. Sometimes they don't get squat back from the companies, or they get much less than the wholesale that was paid for them. Some companies won't even take returns at all.

Second, I agree that if we cannot make backups of items we have fair use rights to back up, then we should contact the manufacturing company directly and say we need another copy when ours becomes unusable. Threaten to take them to small claims court.

Recently I got the first season of "The West Wing" on dvd. I bought it from Wal Mart and lost the slip, and later found out that there was a printing error in the disks. Well, Wal-Mart won't let me get another, so I'm hounding Warner Brothers about getting a replacement. Little hint, it's like talking to a brick wall, but I'm determined to get what I paid for. In 10 years, I might finally get a response.

Just a lot of uninformed people making decisions on technology today. My whole problem with this is if the MPAA can offer me a full proof, unbreakable product then I can see no use for dvd copy. This one really pisses me off, the Star Wars Trilogy is going to finally be released on DVD in Sept. I dont see the wrong in my PURCHASING the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set, and being able to have a back up copy of the thing in case it gets damaged.

The DC court is taking the amicus briefs brought in by the EFF and the ACLU against the RIAA seriously. Considering they have not yet released the verizon Doe's 1-99 Subpeonas for the previous law suits. NY has already released them.

godless- if you HAD the slip, then they'd exchange it within 30days of proof purchase. thanks for shopping at walmart.

hey guys theres better software for copying dvds.

www.dvddecrypter.com rip your dvd to iso, it will even strip macrovission and the region for you. You can immediately burn that iso assuming its a single layer dvd or you have a double layer dvd burner

otherwise if compression is required

www.dvdshrink.com

dvddecrypter is completely free, please support the coder tho, i have

godless, if you don't get any response from Warner try going to www.thedigitalbits.com and e-mailing them with a detailed description of what is wrong with the discs and let them know Warner has failed to respond to you regarding it. I don't know for sure that they can help you or not, but from what I understand they know a LOT of people in the dvd business and may be able to either point you in the right direction or forward your message to somebody who actually gives a crap and can help you, so I would suggest outright asking them if they could do one or the other of those things. The e-mail link is a spinning @ all the way at the bottom on the right hand side of their home page. GOOD LUCK!

Copying a DVD is much easier with the free software
"DVD-Decrypter", plus it doesn't add any kind of watermark. You can get it anywhere on the net, plus it's free.
If you need to then compress a dual layered movie to fit on one blank DVD, just use "DVD-Shrink", again it's freeware.
all you need is this, since they will never change the DeCSS encryption, and due to the fact that there are already millions of DVD's out there with this encryption, nothing has changed except for the fact that now no company can make money of selling the software

sorry Darened03, you obviously got the message here first. We are on the same page man.