[vlc] Re: copy protection

[James Burns]

I'd like to disagree with this response in principle. Surely it would
be possible to write a DRM module which would be able to limit what
other features would be available in VLC. The availability of such
technology would be good for VLC and for open source. If the DRM is a
good and secure algorithm then its release in open source would be a
good thing rather than a bad one. Open source is not equivalent with
not having DRM.
I encourage the original questioner to fund the development of this
functionality and for VLC to accept it into the primary code, subject
to compile time disabling. If the functionality was disabled, that
would mean that DRM protected materials would not be able to be
displayed even if a valid license was present, vs disabling meaning
that DRM file would play regardless of licensing. VLC's copying and
streaming are independent functionality which could be restricted as
well. However, I fully acknowledge that developing a DRM module of
sufficient strength to be open source and incorporated into an open
source project would be quite difficult, but if someone wants to spend
money to develop it, that's good for open source.

-James

On Wed, 3 Nov 2004 10:10:53 +0100, Rémi Denis-Courmont
<courmisch at via.ecp.fr> wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Le Mercredi 3 Novembre 2004 04:03, John Murphy a écrit :
> > I'm an independant videographer. I would like to distribute my movies
> > with the VLC player. Is there a way to protect the content from being
> > copied and redistributed?
> 
> Absolutely not. In fact the VLC has built-in support for copy and
> re-streaming. You might consider building a version of the VLC without
> these features, but advanced users would still be able to copy the
> stream by building their own version with copying capability.
> 
> > Some sort of copy protection or digital rights management.
> > If not, can you recommend someone who could modify
> > the player for me and at what cost.
> 
> People might be able to implement DRM in the VLC, and build a version of
> the VLC without copy capability. However, the VLC is distributed under
> the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). As such, if you
> happen to implement DRM into VLC, any of your customer to whom you
> sold/provided your DRM-enabled VLC would have a right to request the
> source to that implementation. Odds are that one user will do so,
> backport *legally* the descrambling/whatever feature back into our
> mainline VLC, and obtain *legally* a VLC that is able to copy and
> redistribute your movies.
> 
> While copying and redistributing your movies might be illegal, it will
> be technically feasible.
> 
> I'd suggest you read the licensing terms carefully or ask a lawyer
> before you go further. While I'm not lawyer myself, I believe you can't
> really do what you want.
> 
> --
> Rémi Denis-Courmont
> http://www.simphalempin.com/home/
> 
> 
>

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