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Date:      Thu, 1 Nov 2001 13:37:46 +0100
From:      Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@online.fr>
To:        Chern Lee <chern@FreeBSD.ORG>
Cc:        murray@FreeBSD.ORG, doc@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: docs/31653: Chapter 14 of the Handbook lacks content
Message-ID:  <20011101133746.C78208@lpt.ens.fr>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.31.0110311746420.62552-100000@meow.bsdlabs.com>; from chern@FreeBSD.ORG on Wed, Oct 31, 2001 at 05:47:53PM -0800
References:  <20011031203055.B40445@lpt.ens.fr> <Pine.BSF.4.31.0110311746420.62552-100000@meow.bsdlabs.com>

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Chern Lee said on Oct 31, 2001 at 17:47:53:
> Anything to cover this sort of multimedia under FreeBSD would be a great
> addition!  The Handbook is an always in-progress document, and can be
> updated anytime in the future.  Some documentation or even old
> documentation is always better than none.

Question, since FreeBSD is a US-based project:  How much can I say
about playing encrypted DVDs?  Currently, all the available options on
FreeBSD use libdvdcss, which is developed by a France-based group.
(Interestingly, their web page cites support by Sun, among others.)

 o vlc supports it; it is by the same people who wrote libdvdcss, in
   France.

 o mplayer supports it out of the box, but mplayer development is
   based in Hungary.

 o ogle also supports it out of the box, but ogle development is based
   in Sweden.

 o xine does not support it out of the box; xine development is based in
   the US, I think.  However, patches/plugins for xine exist to allow
   it.  Presently, if WITH_CSS is defined, the FreeBSD port will build
   xine with libdvdcss support.  I think the port maintainer is based in
   Brazil.

The handbook is another matter; it's certainly within the bounds of
possibility that the MPAA may sue, even if it's unlikely. 

Recently Alan Cox of Linux refused to disclose the nature of some
security vulnerabilities which were fixed in a linux kernel update,
citing the DMCA.  (Unix permissions can be a copyright control device,
and disclosing a security hole which lets you circumvent these could
violate the DMCA...)  That's extreme of course, probably he did that
for publicity reasons.  But the point remains valid.

- Rahul

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