copy protection - was: Re: Is it time for playing games on WINE?

[Shachar Shemesh]

Alexandre Julliard wrote:

>Shachar Shemesh <wine-devel at shemesh.biz> writes:
>
>  
>
>>I don't get it. As far as I understand, so long as the code in the
>>Wine archives does not allow running copied discs, we are not
>>violating the DMCA. If someone else takes Wine code and modifies it,
>>that's where the DMCA violation happens.
>>    
>>
>
>The DMCA does not require copyright violation, what is illegal is
>"circumventing" the protection measure, it doesn't really matter if
>the replacement code has the same functionality or not. For example
>it's illegal to decrypt your own DVDs with DeCSS, but it's legal to do
>it with an "approved" player, even though they are of course both
>running the exact same algorithm. Yes it's absurd, but that's the way
>the law is written.
>
>So the question is whether the code in question is "circumventing" the
>protection or not. 
>
If the code in Wine still doesn't allow unprotected CDs from running, 
there can be no problem.

>I think you would have a hard time convincing
>someone that a dummy driver that returns magic values is not
>circumventing part of the copy protection, even if the resulting
>behavior is identical to the original.
>
If the resulting behaviour is that copied CDs don't work, while original 
ones do, there is no circumvention (the mechanism that protects access 
to a copyrighted work is still in place).

If this driver works with a CD, regardless of whether it was or was not 
copied, then we have a problem, yes.

>>If this becomes a real issue, I can offer to host the Wine sources in
>>a DMCA free country. I'm sure you'll all agree with me that the
>>sources are the only prolematic part (if a given binary does not allow
>>copied discs to run, it cannot be said to be infringing).
>>    
>>
>
>No, a binary is problematic too. The DeCSS exe is just as illegal as
>the source.
>  
>
That's because of what DeCSS does. DeCSS is the circumvention device 
itself. It takes an encrypted DVD and produces unencrypted MPEGs. For 
example - I'm pretty sure that if you statically link Xine with 
libdecss, you will get a binary that is perfectly legal (region codes 
non-withstanding). It doesn't strip away (circumvent) the protection, 
it's just a player (i.e. - used the same way as it was meant to be 
used). I'm not sure how legal the source for that will be, but like I 
said, I think I can provide a place where the sources should be safe. 
Personally, I think the sources should also be legal, so long as we 
don't place a prominant #ifdef that, if set, produces a circumvention 
device.

Remeber, the "chilling effect" is when we let the DMCA control what we 
do further than what it was meant to do to begin with. I can't see 
anyone taking you to court saying "look, it's true that with Wine you 
can't do anything that you can't do without, but it's an unlicensed 
version, so it's a DMCA violation".

-- 
Shachar Shemesh
Open Source integration consultant
Home page & resume - http://www.shemesh.biz/