David "NetRangerrr" Green (linuxman@geek.com)
writes to Pigdog: "Why not write lots of letters to the
MPAA and DVDCCA like: "Is there any legal way to get a DVD
player for Linux? We are creating software based training
for DOD and would like to make our training stations run
LINUX for an incredible cost savings and greater stability.
I see you are suing against DeCSS so I presume that you
have an alternative."
EXCELLENT idea David!
In February Mr. Bad of The Pigdog Journal released the now infamous DeCSS
copycat software. (Pigdog Journal
DeCSS Distribution Center, February 2, 2000). In an effort waste the
time of the MPAA and DVDCCA lawyers and make it impossible for
them to track down the "real" DeCSS program, millions of copies of a Perl
script that removes cascading style sheets from web pages were posted across
the web.
Now comes the second wave. In order to show what a huge demand there is from
people to be able to play DVDs on Linux boxes, you need to write to the MPAA
and DVDCCA today. The fact that this will cause them to spend time answering
your questions and less time prosecuting the people who wrote the original
DeCSS program is an added bonus.
Here's a sample letter:
"I just bought my first DVD today, a copy of [insert movie name here]. I tried
to play it but the only DVD disc player I have is on my Linux box. I've
searched for software that will let me play DVDs on my Linux box but can't find
any. Can you tell me where I could find the software I need?"
You can cut and paste my example exactly, or come up with your own. You get the
general idea. You should probably also add in some details about your hardware,
and why compiling from source code is a necessity for your setup.
Here's some addresses of where to send your e-mail:
