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by 6stringmerc 2843 days ago
Apparently you haven't been following the battle between Redbox and Disney - not even a physical copy can side-step strong DRM via access codes. From what I can see thus far Disney is winning the battle in court.

So, even if you buy a physical incarnation of a copy, you might not actually own the content on the medium. Thanks a lot, Mickey Mouse /s

2 comments

Are you sure that is an accurate characterization?

From what I've read Redbox is buying Disney "combo packs" that contain a physical DVD or Blu-Ray disc and a printed code that can be used for streaming the movie.

Redbox has been splitting those, renting the disc from its kiosks, and selling the piece of paper containing the printed code.

As far as I can see, it is the codes that are at issue, not the renting of the physical discs.

> So, even if you buy a physical incarnation of a copy, you might not actually own the content on the medium.

Buy it and rip it. Nothing they can do about that.

They can if you're Redbox, which is what the parent was talking about. With DRM bullshit they can circumvent the Right of First Sale principle.
Breaking the law is unethical because the benefits apply only to you. Copyright and truth in advertising law as it is today is not protecting consumers. Rather than being content circumventing the law those of us that understand the problem should work to fix it.
Bypassing DRM is against the TOS, but is not illegal in general, especially for things like personal use.

I would also like to point out that laws only work when they are enforceable. And a great way of getting rid of a law is for all of society to just break it, and encourage others to break it.

When everyone breaks a law, it becomes harder and harder to enforce, and is an effective measure of eliminating it. If not dejure, then at least by defacto.

Ripping modern DRM protected media is far from trivial and selling our offering any kind of tools or devices that can defeat DRM is illegal.
> Buy it and rip it. Nothing they can do about that.

It's illegal (breaking the encryption), so they could theoretically pursue legal remedies.

Yeah, if they knew about it, which they won't unless you're distributing copies. I put laws ripping my own purchased discs for personal use (DMCA) in the "kiss my ass" category.