DVD X COPY.....ILLEGAL!!!!

[tiktok 22]

As far as copyright protection on CD's are concearned, if I find out a CD has copyright protection that will not let me play it in my computer, I simply won't be buying that CD. Me personally, I think that if CD copyright protection ever takes hold, they may be cutting their own throat. Many people now use their PC's (or Macs) for an entertainment system. This will put a halt on that since it simply won't play. Not to mention trying to return a disc that won't play in your computer since it's been opened.

 

[X-CalBR8]

@GJW: If it is a variant of the old form of CD copy protection (most likely is) then it is easily remedied. Just take a black magic marker and black out the very outer edge on the readable side of the disc. This will keep the computer from even trying to read the second false/corrupt TOC. This should keep the computer from freaking out and then the disc should be rippable using any ordinary CD ripping program. If you look at the bottom of the disc you can usually see the outer ring that needs to be blacked out. Just be careful to not cover up the part of the disc that contains the actual audio information or else you may not be able to read the last audio track on the disc.

I guess under the DMCA all black magic markers are now illegal because they have become a "device to circumvent copy protection," which are now illegal to sell under the DMCA. Office Depot had better watch out because the FBI may soon be knocking on their doors to collect all of those evil circumvention devices. LOL.

BTW, the best audio ripping program is Exact Audio Copy and is completely freeware. http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Probably the second best (and a little easier for a newbie to understand) would be AudioGrabber, which coincidentally, was just made freeware only a few days ago. Just check out http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/ Have fun. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[X-CalBR8]

tiktok 22 said: "Not to mention trying to return a disc that won't play in your computer since it's been opened."

That is one of the things that I personally find to be one of the most offensive in this whole war on the consumers that the RIAA is waging. If you buy the disc assuming that it is a normal CD (I.E. a REAL CD, because the others technically aren't...) and get it home to play on your only CD player which just happens to be your computer and you find that it is a worthless piece of plastic, well, I just pity the poor guy that tries to get his money back on any opened CD... He might actually get his money back, eventually, but not before he is thoroughly put through the wringer...

 

[tiktok 22]

X-cal,

This is where I think the RIAA needs to be held accountable for their slighted approach to copyright infringement. If a CD purchased is not playable and therefore not usable, they need to fess up THEY went to far and have stepped on the rights of the consumer. Copyright infringement does not allow them to tell us what type of equipment we are to use just to PLAY a disc. I wouldn't be surprized if the lawsuits started coming forth if this type of protection is enforced.

 

[Charles Bradshaw]

Well, the problem is that the Lawyers for the RIAA and MPAA regard everyone as Pirates and Thieves, particularly Linux users and the MPAA. The Linux users want to be able to watch DVD movies on their computers.

 

[X-CalBR8]

@tiktok 22: Here is an article that I think you might find interesting concerning one of the many lawsuits that have already started over these new "copy protected" CDs that are starting to show up everywhere.

Here is an article that goes into some depth concerning the lawsuit that Phillips is waging against the music industry for putting the officially licensed CD logo on disc that are not even true compact discs according to the official "Red Book" standard for CD-Audio. Here's hoping that Phillips will wipe the floor with the recording industry in the courts. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[X-CalBR8]

@Charles: A lot of that comes down to the fact that the movie industry thought up a scheme to force everyone that made a DVD player of any kind to pay them a royalty in order to have the privilege of watching a DVD and hid behind the DMCA to protect this monopoly. That is one reason why they hate the Linux community so much is because they aren't getting their IP tax from them like they are from Windows users that have traditionally been forced to *buy* a software DVD player, well, before CSS was cracked that is.

The real shame of it is that our legal system is such a mess that it would allow a freeware DVD player to be ruled as being illegal when all the writers of the program wanted to do was to simply *watch* a DVD under Linux, which was completely impossible to do before because there wasn't a major DVD player program that would run under Linux for any price.

It all comes down to the DMCA once again. If that very stupid law had never been passed then it would still be perfectly legal to reverse engineer pretty much anything just like in the old days. After all, that's all the Linux community did really is to reverse engineer a software DVD player and write their own. If the DMCA was to someday be repealed (as well it should), then the whole threat to the Linux community from the movie people would just dry up and go away completely.

You know, the funny thing is that a lot of the same congressmen that originally voted the DMCA into law in the first place have seen the great harm that they have done and are even now trying to either rewrite it or get rid of it altogether, but that is one of the most messed up things about our legal system, once something is passed into law, it is nearly impossible to ever completely get rid of it again, no matter how bad it is...

 

[tiktok 22]

Thanks for the links X-cal.

 

[Brock]

Ok, getting a bit off topic here, but I travel regularly and bring bunches of DVD's with me, some for me and some for the kids). Now I don't care about quality to much, but would like to copy them to my HD so I don't have to drag the disks with me, and I think it uses less power off the HD rather then the dvd drive? Anyway I have http://www.dvdshrink.org/ but I just end up with the files VOB I can't view, I know I could re-burn them to a DVD but that defeats the point.

As for the legality of it I am not sure, and I would like to compress them more to save space anyway so hopefully that will keep some people happy? But to carry 10 DVD's for my son when each one is 30 min is irritating.

 

[geepondy]

Brock, once ripped to the hard drive you need a program like Dr. Divx http://www.divx.com/divx/drdivx/ to convert the vobs to a divx avi file. The encoding process takes a few to several hours per DVD to do though.

 

[GJW]

That shouldn't be necessary.
I'm 90% sure that there are software players that will play the ripped files directly.
Encoding will of course save space but at the cost of several hours.

http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/hd-playback.htm

 

[raggie33]

use gknot brock its free and does a very good job.learning curve is prety simple to.

 

[X-CalBR8]

I use PowerDVD and it plays from the hard drive just as easily as it does from the DVD drive. http://www.gocyberlink.com

 

[MichiganMan]

Hmmm, President Clinton signed the DMCA into law didn't he? Surely X-Cal, you're not including Clinton in the line of "bribed and corrupt"?!?! Y'know its interesting how folks that so easily lay the blame for the Patriot Act squarely on the shoulders of President Bush always seem to somehow omit mention of Bill Clinton when (rightfully IMO) railing against the DMCA as a corporately purchased abuse of consumers. These same folks usually "forget" that he also signed the Welfare Reform Act, the Defense of Marriage Act, and NAFTA too. If I've been paying attention to recent characterizations of Bush these actions clearly define Clinton as a Racist, a Divisive Homophobe, and a Corporate Toadie, in that order.

(Ok Sash, I'll admit I did it. I take full responsibility for this one when it goes flying from the tracks in a brilliant ball of flame. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif But I couldn't resist pointing this phenomena out )



[ QUOTE ]
X-CalBR8 said:
BTW, the best audio ripping program is Exact Audio Copy and is completely freeware. http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Probably the second best (and a little easier for a newbie to understand) would be AudioGrabber, which coincidentally, was just made freeware only a few days ago. Just check out http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/ Have fun. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

On a less contentious note X-Cal, thanks for the info on Audiograbber, I've been a happily registered user for some time and wasn't aware of this recent development. I'm curious though, what makes you prefer EAC?

 

[GJW]

Please don't bait X-CalBR8....
He's contentious enough as it is.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[MichiganMan]

That wasn't bai... ok, the second sentence is probably baiting.... I admit I'm weak

But I still think any condemnation of the politicians involved in the various laws mentioned in my post, no matter how justified, need to include the Executives that signed them into law.

 

[X-CalBR8]

What gives MichiganMan? I don't defend the actions of Clinton and I have NEVER blamed Bush for passing the DMCA, even though I *do* blame him for not making a greater effort of getting rid of the piece of trash now that he has the chance.

I think Clinton had the morals of an alley cat, was bribed off by the corporate powers that be almost as much as Bush is and he supported the homosexual agenda which is completely anathema to my beliefs as a Christian. What is there to defend? In fact, I don't remember *ever* defending a single action of Clinton since I've been posting on this message board, although I could be mistaken.

There you guys go again thinking that if I'm opposed to one faction of our governmental mafia that I must automatically be a supporter of the other, because as we all know, there are only 2 political parties in this country in most peoples' minds. I've said it before and I will say it again, both democrats and republicans are nothing more than the very willing and corrupt puppets of the will of whatever corporations/special interest groups that happen to be funding/bribing their current campaign and they do not have the interest of "we the people" at heart to any degree more than what is necessary to appease us into not revolting against the current political system.

I've said this many many times in the past, but I've apparently still not made myself clear so I find myself repeating it again here, in a thread that this has nothing to do with, so I refuse to comment on it further here. If you wish to discuss whom I favor or disfavor politically it is a subject best suited for a topic more appropriate to the subject, as I'm sure that Sasha will agree, just as soon as she reads this...

 

[X-CalBR8]

@MichiganMan: Concerning your query as to why I favor EAC over AudioGrabber. I favor EAC because it has been proven to rip more accurately than AudioGrabber is capable. If EAC is configured properly, it can rip a good CD bit for bit perfectly, something that AudioGrabber or any other ripper that I've read about so far is incapable of doing. Of course this is only important if you are an audiophile and want perfection in your rips. If speed is your only concern and you care little for accuracy then AudioGrabber would probably be the way to go.

Also worth noting, EAC is capable of obtaining a more perfect rip when ripping a CD that has been abused or damaged. It will slow down to a crawl on the bad parts and reread them till it has as perfect of a rip as is possible given the limitations of your disc and the limitations of the laser in your CD/DVD drive.

 

[raggie33]

ecer use db poweramps ripper?

 

[X-CalBR8]

@raggie33: Yes. Thanks for reminding me. dBpoweramp has a very excellent ripper which I would rate as being as good as, if not slightly better than, AudioGrabber and with the new improvements that are planed, it will very likely soon rival EAC on accuracy as well. dBpoweramp has to be one of the most handy audio tools out there to. With dBpoweramp you can right click on any audio file and with the right codec convert any audio file into any other audio file, including ID tags. The basic program is free, but some of the addons are shareware. I've really not found any need for the addons though and am perfectly content with just the freeware part of the program. Here is the URL so that you guys can all go and check out this wonderful audio tool: http://www.dbpoweramp.com/