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Thread ID: 74362	2006-11-20 01:51:00	Fair Use By Proxy Rights Not The Same To Everyone	SurferJoe46 (51)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
500572	2006-11-20 01:51:00	Really now, the entertainment industry has never been reluctant to make consumers pay over and over again for media they've already purchased . It comes as small surprise to hear that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA, circa RIAA, ibid) is suing a company that sells brand-new iPods pre-loaded with a selection of DVDs chosen by the purchaser . The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, has Paramount Pictures accusing Load 'N Go Video of violations of the both The Copyright Act and The Digital Millenium Copyright Act, claiming the company illegally decrypts and copies its DVDs . Uh huh! It's true that Load 'N Go Video's business is built on ripping DVDs and transferring their content to portable media devices, however . . . . . . the company insists the process it uses does not involve decryption . Furthermore, it rips only DVDs already purchased by its customers . As a selling/buyers incentive, included in the purchase price of an iPod from Load 'N Go Video are all the DVDs their clients have paid to have loaded on the device . When the company ships its customized iPods, it sends them out along with the original DVDs purchased by the customer . Essentially, Load 'N Go is a fair-use-by-proxy service . Paramount aint buying it and it would much rather it's customers purchase all their DVD movies a second time if they want to watch them on a portable device . Clearly, its (Paramount's) own bottom line is far more important than preserving our rights to use lawfully the digital media we already own . "This is copyright gone too far," writes Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation . "If you buy a DVD, you should be able to make a personal copy of it for your iPod, just like you should be legally able to make a copy of a CD for your car, without having to ask permission or pay a second time . That's one of the things fair use is for . . . . as defined by already standing laws . . . . . . . . just the latest example of the entertainment industry taking aim not at 'pirates,' but at the legitimate fair use rights of music and movie fans . " Now, I don't know about the laws in NZ, but one can clearly see that this (act by the MPAA cum RIAA) is counter to the statutes on Fair Use By Proxy in the US . Hopefully if NZ does not have these rights already placed into the books, then it's probably a good time to get the bigheads to consider catching up with the EU and US so you can have your own proxy wars too .	SurferJoe46 (51)
500573	2006-11-20 09:09:00	We don't have any fair use rights at all. I don't think RIANZ would actually prosecute anyone for format shifting though - that would piss off all the retail stores & consumer electronics manufacturers that make a lot of money selling devices that rely on format shifting (or piracy).	Greven (91)
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