VideoLAN may disappear due to EUCD

There is an alarming post over at videolan.org that discusses how the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD), a European version of the U.S.' Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) will affect VideoLAN. Here is the post...

During the night of 22nd to 23rd December 2005, while everybody is preparing for Christmas, the French Parliament will rule about the "DADVSI" law. This vote will be made with minimal discussion, as an "emergency" has been declared on this law.

This law is the French transcription of the European EUCD (European Union Copyright Directive) text, which itself comes from the American DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

The main goal of this law is to restrict the rights of digital content purchasers. It most notably forbids them from working around technical content protection measures.
Doing so, writing or publishing software allowing to do so, or even merely talking about ways to do so becomes an offence that can be punished with three years in jail.

VideoLAN is directly impacted, most notably for its reading capability (all Linux DVD reading software has the same problem). Should this law be passed, this would seriously hinder VLC's development.

The French website eucd.info collects a large number of related articles and documentation.

This is yet another example of how laws made to protect copyright and the entertainment industry are having an effect on technology.

Source:
VideoLAN Homepage

Written by: James Delahunty @ 5 Dec 2005 11:51

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19 comments

dude845

lol

5.12.2005 13:22 #1

umug

FFS, has the whole world gone mad, or is it just me??

5.12.2005 14:54 #2

sparkery

Laws are written by the MPAA with a "sign here" directive to our elected politicians.

5.12.2005 15:11 #3

DVDBack23

sorry mods but...fuck the french.

5.12.2005 15:11 #4

p4_tt

Getting out of hand all these new laws.

5.12.2005 15:24 #5

altean

bend over for the NWO.
thats how yer freedom of speech,liberty and all the other good things , that our forefathers have died for means shit to them.
as for the politicians its a matter of convenience.
big bussiness makes them a taxdough, by helping them writing and enacting laws on things(mp3,music,video etc)they have no clue about. so the paper is going to change hands fast if there is money to be made on it.
no matter if its the states or europe since the big guys with the power and money they make any laws they see fit for themselves.so you and I can get fucked any way they see fit.
Either start to kill the rich bastards by inciting a revolution or be a slave for the rest of yer natural lives.
ppl don't realise that if they go to their respective govs parliement and everyone sez NO! than those guys have to agree with you.COUSE you are the one with the ULTIMATE power.buy buying or deniyng you decide what goes and what not.if someone fucks with ya don't buy their shit. this goes for every one of us. then guess what? they're out of bussiness. YES..you have the power to boycott big companies too..lol
or even goverments..they can only enact shit long as you let'em. it only takes a little courage and will to do something about yer very immidiate future.
so act on it, don't you just sit onyer ass and whine about it like a baby.
end of story..

5.12.2005 19:58 #6

Ampgod

it does NOT matter one bit as the elite underground will always thrive and bring us the things we need.

*as for that last post... going to the government
is a waste of time and brain power.

Just study programing and crack shit yourself.
Now that's an answer to the problem!!! ;)

5.12.2005 20:56 #7

esrever

The French should be shat upon greatly.

6.12.2005 04:32 #8

pevelius

france is not to blame. they only follow the EU law. At least one finnish euro-representative has made an announcement that she will try to change the law to a more consumer-friendly.

6.12.2005 05:52 #9

pevelius

besides, france is way ahead of many other countries in drm-stuff. for example, css-encryption is not allowed in france according to a court desicion. the court feels people should be allowed to copy their dvd:s.

6.12.2005 05:54 #10

pevelius

and the link: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050425-4846.html

6.12.2005 05:58 #11

malcdogg

Yeah, you can't blame the French for the all the actions of their government. I know I hate it when people try to blame ME for Bush and his actions.....I didn't vote for him. I'm sure most of the French are against having content thats so heavily DRM'ed it's practically useless. It's just another example of corperations pulling the puppet strings and making the "peoples" government dance.

6.12.2005 08:02 #12

S2K

pevelius (Junior Member) 6 December 2005 10:54
"besides, france is way ahead of many other countries in drm-stuff. for example, css-encryption is not allowed in france according to a court desicion. the court feels people should be allowed to copy their dvd:s.
and the link: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050425-4846.html"

I spent August and a good deal of October in France. Every single dvd I bought or rented was css'd. my understanding was the net result of this has to do with labling ONLY and css macrovision remain complety legal strategies for works owners in France

6.12.2005 11:46 #13

Ampgod

DRM is a feeble attempt at protection.

Nobody has anything to worry about!
Just search the net hard enough and you will
find the files you need to disable all of it!

7.12.2005 09:11 #14

ximenez

Me parece, que estos pocos ricachones, quieren terminar con Internet. NO PUEDE SER POSIBLE QUE ESTOS
"BURROS RICOS" QUIERAN IR CONTRA UNA JOYA COMO VLC.
POR EJEMPLO LOS DE LA MUSICA: NO SON SUPER LADRONES??
CUANTO LE PAGAN A LOS ARTISTAS?? A LA MAYORIA, SI UN DISCO SE A 14 DOLARES LES DAN 1 O COMO MUCHO 2$?????.

11.12.2005 02:40 #15

umug

Every day if I can ximenez, and sometimes twice on the weekends. LOL ;)

11.12.2005 21:45 #16

Spoilage

It appears these Laws is written by "big business" not "We the People". Big business' are the only ones that can buy politicians. It seems business profits out weigh our personal freedoms.

12.12.2005 08:59 #17

rsims17

the politicians gotta pay for those expensive aids somehow or how else would they blindside the dumb citizens of any country and keep there jobs. they simply dont care about the people as much as themselves. so f*** drm and ensure that the product you buy is yours and not just a f***ing rental

12.12.2005 10:56 #18

xhardc0re

It's been a few months and thank the Gods that Videolan is still around. They provide a valueable service to their users; how they could be seen as violating any law is pure B.S. I am happy they provide such great software. Donated $$$ to their server costs :)

8.6.2006 11:16 #19

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