Clarifying the legal status of playing DVDs on Linux

[Mark Stosberg]

Hello,

I want to clear up some misinformation I've spread about DVDs and
Linux.

I believed in the past that playing DVDs on Linux was illegal in the
US, using the libdvdcss library.

I now understand that this is legal. The Ubuntu website explains the
situation well and links to the actual law if you want to read it
yourself:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeFormats#head-c2258969400dbf867f84949acc2a276a10e8ae7c

( If you click through the law, be sure to scroll section "f", where
reverse engineering is discussed. )

Using libdvdcss can be illegal you use it for illegal DVD copying and
distribution. To be on the safe side of US law, Ubuntu chooses not to
distribute the software by default, but it is easy to install
regardless.

Mark

[threethirty]

This is good to know, I have been telling people that it was illegal
also. It's also good to know that fair use still exists

On Aug 18, 11:54 am, Mark Stosberg <m...@summersault.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I want to clear up some misinformation I've spread about DVDs and
> Linux.
>
> I believed in the past that playing DVDs on Linux was illegal in the
> US, using the libdvdcss library.
>
> I now understand that this is legal. The Ubuntu website explains the
> situation well and links to the actual law if you want to read it
> yourself:
>

> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeFormats#head-c2258969400dbf867f...