Have you ever ripped a DVD onto your hard drive? If so, you might be interested in what the DVD Copy Control Association is voting on this week. According to Eric Bangeman at Arstechnica, the DVD CCA is planning vote on a "Managed Copy Amendment" that closes a loophole in the CSS license that allows home media server products - you know like your Home Theater PC and those high-dollar Kaleidescape Movie Servers - to legally rip DVDs to a computer hard drive.
AMENDMENT IS TARGETING KALEIDESCAPE
This amendment is specifically targeting the Kaleidescape company who they lost a lawsuit to this past March. Obviously this likely won't keep you from ripping your purchased DVDs to your hard drive, but it could spell more trouble for Kaeidescape and any other company that wants to create a movie server.
WHO IS KALEIDESCAPE?
You may have heard of a company selling the Kaleidescape system. This system was basically a high-end HTPC preloaded with a bunch of movies. You purchase the movies as part of the package, but they are on the hard-drive of the system. Sounds like an okay thing right? Well paying for the movie isn't enough for the CCA, they would rather not allow this sort of forward-thinking device. Instead, they'll continue to sue the company that wants to pay for the movies! Content protection is one thing, but this is a little over the top in my opinion.
WHY SHOULD IT BE OKAY TO RIP DVDs TO YOUR HARD DRIVE?
I personally think it should be okay for you to rip (or backup) your DVD from the disc itself to your PC. This gives you more flexibility in how you watch the movie - especially if you use an HTPC front-end.
