Wow, Microsoft has some nerve! Removing DVD playback...

[tek_heretik]

I really don't see any problem with that decision. Think about it, when was, he last time u played a dvd? Most of the video we play are in files , like theora, mkv, wmv, mp4, among others. I am sure that companies like DELL or HP will include the rights by default or charge a little extra.

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There is some truth in what you say, I 'acquire' files (lol), transcode, then watch on my home player (living room) with my honey, that being said, it would be a uphill battle to do even that in Win-DOHs now.

[SteveRiley]

With all do respect Steve, have to disagree with you here, MOST distros will play a DVD 'out of the box'. And even if they don't, a simple 'fix' is FREE and most likely automatically prompted.

You should perhaps do some research regarding the legality of DeCSS and related DVD decryption tools. You cannot install DeCSS without breaking the law in the United States, and libdvdcss remains on shaky ground. Notice where Medibuntu is located: the domain is of German origin, while the IP address comes from a block allocated to a French hosting provider. Medibuntu's official mirrors are in Europe and Korea. And although libdvdcss has not been legallly challenged the way DeCSS has, it clearly violates DMCA. VideoLAN, the providers of libdvdcss, is also of French registration.

Why is everybody banking on the death of the PC? They aren't going away anytime soon, and every new PC pretty much comes with a Blu-Ray drive now, this is just another money saving tactic along with distancing themselves from DRM issues, once again putting the onus on the user.

I agree that the PC isn't going away anytime soon. However, the PC market is no longer a growth market.

DMCA is pure evil, and some Microsoft business practices are worthy of disdain. But realize that to legally play back DVDs requires obtaining a license from the DVD CCA, and such licenses are not free. Currently, the price of every copy of Windows is inflated by the cost of this license. Why should people who don't need the license be forced to pay for it? Particularly when overall desktop/tower PC sales are on the wane?

[ardvark71]

You should perhaps do some research regarding the legality of DeCSS and related DVD decryption tools. You cannot install DeCSS without breaking the law in the United States, and libdvdcss remains on shaky ground. Notice where Medibuntu is located: the domain is of German origin, while the IP address comes from a block allocated to a French hosting provider. Medibuntu's official mirrors are in Europe and Korea. And although libdvdcss has not been legallly challenged the way DeCSS has, it clearly violates DMCA. VideoLAN, the providers of libdvdcss, is also of French registration.

Hi....

I think that depends. If you intend to violate the copyright, yes but otherwise no. Please read here.

Regards...

[tek_heretik]

You should perhaps do some research regarding the legality of DeCSS and related DVD decryption tools. You cannot install DeCSS without breaking the law in the United States, and libdvdcss remains on shaky ground. Notice where Medibuntu is located: the domain is of German origin, while the IP address comes from a block allocated to a French hosting provider. Medibuntu's official mirrors are in Europe and Korea. And although libdvdcss has not been legallly challenged the way DeCSS has, it clearly violates DMCA. VideoLAN, the providers of libdvdcss, is also of French registration.



DMCA is pure evil, and some Microsoft business practices are worthy of disdain. But realize that to legally play back DVDs requires obtaining a license from the DVD CCA, and such licenses are not free. Currently, the price of every copy of Windows is inflated by the cost of this license. Why should people who don't need the license be forced to pay for it? Particularly when overall desktop/tower PC sales are on the wane?

You know what, that makes a lot of sense, PCLinuxOS for example, is from the states (and they are wary of any copyright laws, etc) so it is very 'scaled back' but you are hinted at to install this or that if you want this or that, whereas Mint for example, is from Ireland and Europeans are not fond of Microsoft (Europeans pay double for their OSes because Microsoft loses in European courts a lot and M$ HATES to lose money, so they recoup it through insane prices) and the heavy handed laws of the US, so they are apt to be more open about being free as in beer, skinny dipping, etc, lol, you get a lot less prompts to improve functionality. All that being said, I like the fact you get the 'non-free' download/install option in the Kubuntu installer, saves a lot of time and hunting later.

[capt-zero]

MS has long been known for it's underhanded, sneaky and basically unfair buisiness practices since it's inception. It has flown on the coattails of the inertia of the IBM phenomenom of the early eighties. If you remember when IBM first came out with a home computer, it was only under market pressure, and the PC they came out with was inferior in every respect with others available at that time. IBM however, had long standing contracts with most corporations in the US. The result was that most corporations went with IBM PC as the company machine. In probably the only innovative move Mr. Gates ever took in his life, he rapidly came out with the MS Basic OS tailored specifically for the IBM PC. Since then, every advance of the original OS has been made as a reaction to advances other developers had already made. A good example is original Windows, a reaction to Apple's Lisa OS. Any innovation other developers made in the IBM clone market was either copied cheaply by MS or fought with every unhanded trick in MS's playbook. Through it all though, MS standing today is only because of the free ride obtained from the original IBM PC.

MS's attempts to squelch Linux advances in the same manner as undertaken in the past will only hasten the demise of MS as the leader in modern operating systems. By including escalating costs in the Windows in reaction to advances made in "free" systems is a self defeating policy. My prediction is that soon people will see the advantages in security, stability, customablity, and above all costs derived from the open-source systems available. As more buisiness types of apps become available and those same apps become more sofisticated, buisinesses with slowly, but enevitably be turning to the Linux model of computing. In the long run, buisiness has always been about the bottom line.

[GreyGeek]

... But realize that to legally play back DVDs requires obtaining a license from the DVD CCA, and such licenses are not free. Currently, the price of every copy of Windows is inflated by the cost of this license. Why should people who don't need the license be forced to pay for it? Particularly when overall desktop/tower PC sales are on the wane?

Excellent point!

It raises the question as to what the DVD_CCA is going to do about their lost revenue? A Win8 user will obviously have to pay for the license when they "upgrade" their Win8 to play DVDs, so the fee will be in the upgrade costs, but most will probably play streaming video off the web. I suspect that the DVD_CCA will be forced to take a more active role in the RIAA activities. But, they could, by some miracle, offer a Linux license to play DVDs, either as a binary driver or in some device designed to play on Linux systems.

Personally, I haven't played a DVD in several years. I stream from Amazon Instant Movies or YouTube. Either one costs 1/10th what a pair of tickets to a local theater costs, and my wife and I can watch them at our convenience, from the comfort of our bed! (That's one reason why I got this 17.3" diagonal laptop! Snuggling together while watching a great movie! Oh, I also bought a pair of surround-sound amps to plug into this box when we do watch a movie. Awesome. Gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it!)

[pookito]

Excellent point!
Personally, I haven't played a DVD in several years. I stream from Amazon Instant Movies or YouTube. Either one costs 1/10th what a pair of tickets to a local theater costs, and my wife and I can watch them at our convenience, from the comfort of our bed! (That's one reason why I got this 17.3" diagonal laptop! Snuggling together while watching a great movie! Oh, I also bought a pair of surround-sound amps to plug into this box when we do watch a movie. Awesome. Gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it!)

Well, I use boxer and xbmc. Lots of digital movies, Netflix, or streaming them via boxer. DVDs and blue rays will soon be part of the past.


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[SteveRiley]

my wife and I can watch them at our convenience, from the comfort of our bed! (That's one reason why I got this 17.3" diagonal laptop! Snuggling together while watching a great movie! Oh, I also bought a pair of surround-sound amps to plug into this box when we do watch a movie. Awesome. Gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it!)

Jerry's bed is also his entertainment center. Tee hee

[GreyGeek]

Jerry's bed is also his entertainment center. Tee hee

With electronic dual controls!!

[SteveRiley]

With electronic dual controls!!

Uh... the kind that takes a quarter, or the kind that takes D batteries? Bwahahaha!

[GreyGeek]

Uh... the kind that takes a quarter, or the kind that takes D batteries? Bwahahaha!

AC. I'm too cheap and batteries don't last long enough!

[SteveRiley]

Does your wife ever see these chats?

[GreyGeek]

I'll take the 5th!