[ubuntu-uk] Format shifting vs. the Criminal Justice Act
Slightly off-topic, but there's been a lot of anti-Digital Rights Management discussion on here in the past, so here goes... Today the government announced sweeping reforms of copyright law: http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/topstories/2011/Aug/reforming-ip Part of that is the legalisation of format shifting; for example, making it legal to rip a CD or DVD to an OGG file for personal use so you can play it on your portable device. Currently that is illegal in the UK. As I understand it, the Criminal Justice Act in the early 1990s made it illegal to interfere with someone pursuing a legal activity (at the time, fox hunting; nowadays, animal experiments). So if the CJA makes it illegal to interfere with legal activity, and the new copyright law makes it legal to copy stuff for personal use, does this new law accidentally make most DRM illegal in the UK? -- Andrew Oakley and...@aoakley.com -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Format shifting vs. the Criminal Justice Act
The main focus has been with audio cd's in the news today. They have not changed the law regrading circumventing DVD Looks like they are not going to change current rules in regards to movies, since most movies are available in multi format packs already (most current movies come in triple packs : blu-ray / DVD / digital download with a single purchase! ) which its more than the music industry does at present. We would need a fair use act to allow breaking DRM for personal use.. On Aug 3, 2011 2:18 PM, Andrew Oakley and...@aoakley.com wrote: Slightly off-topic, but there's been a lot of anti-Digital Rights Management discussion on here in the past, so here goes... Today the government announced sweeping reforms of copyright law: http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/topstories/2011/Aug/reforming-ip Part of that is the legalisation of format shifting; for example, making it legal to rip a CD or DVD to an OGG file for personal use so you can play it on your portable device. Currently that is illegal in the UK. As I understand it, the Criminal Justice Act in the early 1990s made it illegal to interfere with someone pursuing a legal activity (at the time, fox hunting; nowadays, animal experiments). So if the CJA makes it illegal to interfere with legal activity, and the new copyright law makes it legal to copy stuff for personal use, does this new law accidentally make most DRM illegal in the UK? -- Andrew Oakley and...@aoakley.com -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Format shifting vs. the Criminal Justice Act
On 3 August 2011 14:18, Andrew Oakley and...@aoakley.com wrote: Slightly off-topic, but there's been a lot of anti-Digital Rights Management discussion on here in the past, so here goes... Today the government announced sweeping reforms of copyright law: http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/topstories/2011/Aug/reforming-ip Part of that is the legalisation of format shifting; for example, making it legal to rip a CD or DVD to an OGG file for personal use so you can play it on your portable device. Currently that is illegal in the UK. As I understand it, the Criminal Justice Act in the early 1990s made it illegal to interfere with someone pursuing a legal activity (at the time, fox hunting; nowadays, animal experiments). So if the CJA makes it illegal to interfere with legal activity, and the new copyright law makes it legal to copy stuff for personal use, does this new law accidentally make most DRM illegal in the UK? Probably not. I.e if you have a file that you can Format Shift, that will be legal. Doesn't necessarily mean the only legal file formats are those that can be Format Shifted and it would be illegal to supply a file format that cannot be Format Shifted -- Andrew Oakley and...@aoakley.com -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Format shifting vs. the Criminal Justice Act
On 3 August 2011 18:54, Tony Pursell a...@princeswalk.fsnet.co.uk wrote: Probably not. I.e if you have a file that you can Format Shift, that will be legal. Doesn't necessarily mean the only legal file formats are those that can be Format Shifted and it would be illegal to supply a file format that cannot be Format Shifted. so studios would be restricted to using formats that can freely be converted, i.e. without any DRM! :-D Jacob Mansfield Programmer CyberKing Solutions™ -- Air conditioned environment - do not open windows! Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Format shifting vs. the Criminal Justice Act
On 3 August 2011 18:59, Jacob Mansfield cyberja...@gmail.com wrote: On 3 August 2011 18:54, Tony Pursell a...@princeswalk.fsnet.co.uk wrote: Probably not. I.e if you have a file that you can Format Shift, that will be legal. Doesn't necessarily mean the only legal file formats are those that can be Format Shifted and it would be illegal to supply a file format that cannot be Format Shifted. Sorry, I think I should have said: Probably not. I.e if you have a file that you can Format Shift, and you Format Shift it, that will be legal. Doesn't necessarily mean the only legal file formats are those that can be Format Shifted and it would be illegal to supply a file format that cannot be Format Shifted. In other words, it is the act of Format Shifting that I assume is being legalized. The law probably will not have anything to say about what is a legal file format or it being illegal to prevent Format Shifting. so studios would be restricted to using formats that can freely be converted, i.e. without any DRM! :-D Jacob Mansfield Programmer CyberKing Solutions™ -- Air conditioned environment - do not open windows! Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
