what next, DVD fast forwarding to be banned!

[ayoub_ibrahim]

THE US CONGRESS is considering making fast forwarding through video advertisements a crime.

Lawmakers in the land of the free have decided that it is costing their chums in the movie industry far too much money and want video fast-forwarders placed in the same league as pirates.

According to NBC news the new law allows families to use new DVD technology self censor explicit scenes of sex and violence but forbids them to edit out advertisements.

Consumer advocacy group, Public Knowledge is fighting the bill saying that it is ever American's right not to watch advertisements if they don't want. It claims that the movie industry is leaning on its tame senators to prevent the loss of revenue.

However the Motion Picture Association has been fighting hard to prevent people using the latest DVD technology to allow users to skip the advertisements.

It added that it supports other parts of the act, "particularly those provisions that will help combat the theft of motion pictures". If you can see how the two things are connected we would love to know how

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19801

[High_Jumbllama]

There's plenty of real reasons to hate this without spreading the FUD. It does not outlaw skipping or fast forwarding through commercials. It just outlaws it being done automatically.

[Marshmallowman]

I want it done automatically.

Given the choice between buying a DVD which forces me to watch ads or me downlaoding it free off the net with no ads...which would I choose?

These guys are their own worst enemy.

[Jammrock]

" what next, DVD fast forwarding to be banned!"

Actually ... there is a chapter on every DVD, the one with the copyright warning (FBI warning in the US) that cannot be fast forwarded through or skipped by any means - except on some very rare rogue DVD players. There was a point where studio execs were going to put movie promos and ads on this chapter, and it's well within DVD Consortium specification and guidelines for a studio to do this.

However, when rumor hit that DVDs were going to start coming out with previews and commercials that you couldn't skip in any form, the fit hit the shan. There were petitions, nasty letters, lawsuit threats, etc. The idea was eventually given up on and now instead they make the trailers option by either fastforward or hit the menu button.

This history lesson has been brought to you by,

Jammrock

[K6-III]

Somehow Kaffiene, under Linux, lets me skip those chapters...

[DukeP]

Yeah. My kissdp500 player skips them as well.
Good riddance, btw. FBI have about as much jurisdiction in my living room as I have in theirs.

~~DukeP~~

[PAugustin]

If they do such a thing, I think DVD copy will just rise

[Jammrock]

Originally posted by DukeP
Yeah. My kissdp500 player skips them as well.
Good riddance, btw. FBI have about as much jurisdiction in my living room as I have in theirs.

~~DukeP~~

Yeah well, it's a bit harder to come by KiSS players in the US It figures that a Danish company would do that. There's an old uber-high-end DVD player from Proceed (not disolved by the eVil Harmon company) that could skip that, but besides that, only imported DVD players can here. That or modded ones.

Doesn't surprise me that Linux DVD players can skip it either.

Jammrock