Waste the MPAA and DVDCCA's Time
2000-08-23 10:19:57
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:
MPAA:
E-mail: hotline@mpaa.org
Tel: (818) 995-6600
DVDCCA: (All contact is through "License Management International")
E-mail:
info@lmicp.com
Tel: (408) 776-2014
Fax: (408) 779-9291
If you know of other addresses, send them to barfback@pigdog.org and I'll add them to this article.
Let the MPAA and DVDCCA know that there's a huge demand from Linux users for a way to play DVDs on Linux systems.
Please feel free to copy this page and e-mail it to friends and co-workers.
T O P S T O R I E S
Another Nobel Prize-Winning Author Describes Drunkenness
This book won a Pulitzer Prize. Here's its famous paragraph on getting drunk... (More...)
'Why I'm pretty sure JD Vance had sex with a couch'
True or false? The answers await us in that magical land where all truths are revealed -- the internet. (More...)
In 2010 Dr. Cheng-Huai Ruan discovered a way to cause a patient with an abnormal heartbeat to get back into a normal rhythm by sticking a finger up the patient's ass. (More...)
WKRP in Cincinnati aired from 1978 through 1982. Howard Hesseman played Dr. Johnny Fever, a DJ from Los Angeles who was fired from his previous job for saying the word "booger" on the air. In the show Hesseman would do some dialogue, introduce a song, and start the song. You'd hear a few notes, but never the whole song. (More...)
SF Hippies Can't Get Their Act Together
The annual 420 Hippie Hill event in Golden Gate Park, where large crowds of hippies, wannabe hippies, and hippie poseurs drape themselves in tie dye t-shirts and gather on a hill on 4/20 to smoke weed, was cancelled this year because the organizers couldn't get their act together. (More...)
Mozart to be inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame
Joining such hard-rocking inductees as Abba, Chet Atkins, Nat King Cole, and Neil Diamond, the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame is proud to induct Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
Pao Tzu: Obtaining San Pedro Cactus
Horticultural clone master, Pao Tzu, guides you through the ins and outs of stealing hallucinogenic cacti from your neighbors' yards. Ooh la la! (More...)
A Day in the Life of a Beverotologist
It was starting to look like a very boring Saturday, trapped as I was in the suburban wastelands of the outer Bay Area, so I called my Able Assistant (AA) and proposed that we perform some Spocktail field tests. For some time I've been working on creating the quintessential cinematic beverage and even tho' SMRL does most of its testing during nocturnal hours, this seemed an opportune time to roll up the sleeves of our labcoats and get some science done. While the beverotology creation tested this day (The Neurotoxin) must be deemed a success, this article focuses more the journey of the experimenters, rather then the science of beverotology. (More...)
It was Friday night at the Casa de Baron and everything was in place -- a group of friends had assembled, people were setting things on fire in the backyard, and a Ferry Corsten double-live CD was playing on the stereo. Everything was in place to make further scientific advances in beverage research and leisure technology. (More...)
Another Spocktail brought to you by the selfless beveratologists of Spock Mountain Research Labs. You do the math, we'll do the SCIENCE! (More...)
Songs Of Love And Special Things
Well, dear reader, there's no denying it: Spring has sprung. The air is pungent with the fertile aroma of Romance. And you know what goes with Romance, don't you? That's right, Lover, porn. And not just any porn, but the kind you can sing along to. (More...)
We here in SMRL's Beverage Research Lab realize that there is more to life than just drinking spocktails. It's important to have other activities. One such activity that we wholeheartedly support is dancing six or more hours to Trance music. So we have designed a drink to accommodate this. (More...)