Posted by Jeff Rife on 12/26/17 11:29

Alpha (none@none.net) wrote in alt.video.dvd:
> > There is no such unit out there that I am aware of. There are several
> > standalone units, and also network attached storage devices which will
> > store thousands of DVDs which require that you rip all the DVDs to their
> > server farm (see:
> > http://www.excelmeridiandata.com/products/datashare_x2/index.shtml
> >
> > but I don't get the impression that you are looking for either of these 2
> > types.
>
> Further, the company that created the CSS copy protection is suing these
> companies big time

Some companies, yes, but not the one mentioned in the link, because they
don't provide any way to rip CSS-protected DVD-Video discs. The devices
they sell are just big hard drives with network connections.

> ....serving DVDs off a central server, even within a home,
> is considered a violation of the law.

No, actually, it isn't, especially if you are talking about DVDs that
aren't CSS-encrypted DVD-Video discs.

Even for these, selling hardware that does this *might* be contributory
infringement of the rights of the copyright holder, but it's never been
specifically tested in court. Actually *serving* DVD-Video discs off a
central server for personal use is *not* copyright infringement. Copying
them to the server would only be infringement if you don't own the original
discs. There is nothing in copyright law that prevents someone from using
a tool to rip a DVD-Video disc to the server. Writing and/or distributing
such a tool is possibly contributory infringement, but that hasn't been
tested in court, either.

--
Jeff Rife |
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