> > I would like to draw attention to a proposal that I think is very > > important for Ubuntu as a desktop deistribution: the possibility of > > automatically enabling CSS decryption support for DVDs, like it is already > > possible to retrieve support for certain audio/video endcodings > > automatically.
> Please read the comments in the bug you linked to for explanation as > to why this will not happen. As the comments in the bug state, the reason DeCSS is not included is (I imagine) to avoid violating the DMCA. The more that I think about the automatic codec installation of Ubuntu, the more that I am concerned that the current approach places the distribution in murky legal territory. Allowing (encouraging?) a user to install patent-violating codecs may not infringe the DMCA or copyright, but it still may not be the best idea. Think of Napster being sued for allowing others to infringe copyright. A large number of people respond to this by saying that they live in Europe and that their country does not enforce software-only patents. That doesn't matter much, considering that a patent-holder would bring any proceedings in countries that did enforce their patents. Fedora handles the situation with http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureCodecBuddy - which allows users to purchase non-infringing codecs from Fluendo. http://www.fluendo.com/press/releases/PR-2007-01.html Perhaps a good compromise would be to default to Codec Buddy and have a button for "Multiverse Codecs". When the user clicks the button, they could be presented with a message *actively discouraging* them from using the multiverse versions and highlighting that they are likely to break the law if they do so. In an attempt to disarm critics, I ask you to read: http://www.linux.com/articles/59830 "On the patent question, Fluendo's official stance is that it opposes software patents, but that in areas where they are the law, it has no choice but to obey the statutes. Perhaps more importantly, customers have no choice either. Some critics of Fluendo's plugin products are quick to point out that there are freely available, often GPLed libraries that decode the same formats. That is, however, irrelevant: the non-free formats are non-free not because of the license on the source code, but because of the patents on the format. Wherever possible, Fluendo encourages its customers to use patent-free formats. "In GStreamer we try to make sure Ogg and Dirac support everything that is possible to do with the non-free formats. So at the end of the day we feel that by moving people toward Linux and now Solaris, and to using an open source framework like GStreamer which has top-notch support for free codecs, we do more good than evil for the goal of removing the plight of patented codecs, even if our way of achieving that is by offering those non-free codecs for sale." [...] Non-free media formats are fundamentally at odds with free software, not because of source code licensing but because of patents. Ignoring that fact can mean taking a serious legal risk. As Dave Neary of Wengo so concisely expressed it on his personal blog: "People should realise that proprietary codecs are just that -- proprietary. And if they cost money, that's a great way to realise."" I am in no way associated with Fluendo (except for being a participant in the codecs beta testing). I am simply concerned that Ubuntu makes it too easy to infringe patents. As I raised on the mailing list and in a bug report: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/173161 users often end up infringing patents that they never even use because the codecs are distributed in composite packages. Regards, Aaron -- FSF Associate Member: 5632 http://www.fsf.org -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
