[icruise]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

DVDs are Macrovision encrypted, so there is no way to legally rip/transcode a DVD without circumventing this security mechanism... Or, at least, there is no way Apple would want to get into this business, I wouldn't think.

Macrovision only governs trying to copy the the video signal itself (e.g. connecting a DVD player's video out to a video recorder of some kind). I don't think breaking Macrovision in and of itself is even illegal, although I could be wrong about that. CSS is the digital encryption that is *supposed* to prevent you from copying DVDs. Of course, it works so well that there are hundreds of programs that can do it, and they have to come up with legislation making it illegal to break it.

But anyway, the conclusion is the same. There is no way in hell Apple is going to let you just "rip" your DVDs with iTunes. It's very easy to do, and the Apple TV will allow you to use that ripped video (after all, it's no different from other video files after it's been ripped) but Apple isn't going to facilitate the process for you.

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Just another reason to use a Mini instead of an AppleTV in your home theatre setup.

Why is that?

[hangarbum]

mac the ripper lets you do it with the disclaimer/warning to not rip dvds you do not own. is this still not legal to even make a legitimate backup of a movie i paid for? and if it is legal, why would iTunes not be allowed to use the same technology to deliver my media the way i want it?

also, i have a mini on my big tv with the new extreme. but the mini doesn't yet have the draft n, so i don't think it would stream well to my bedroom, and i really don't want to mess with dropping lines through the walls to wire it up.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by hangarbum 

mac the ripper lets you do it with the disclaimer/warning to not rip dvds you do not own. is this still not legal to even make a legitimate backup of a movie i paid for? and if it is legal, why would iTunes not be allowed to use the same technology to deliver my media the way i want it?

also, i have a mini on my big tv with the new extreme. but the mini doesn't yet have the draft n, so i don't think it would stream well to my bedroom, and i really don't want to mess with dropping lines through the walls to wire it up.

In the USA, it is not legal to rip a commercial DVD even if you own it.

[hangarbum]

i'm not sure that's accurate. i have a buddy who's an intellectual property attorney who told me that it is legal to make a personal backup copy if you own it. but fair use doesn't apply where you could then share it with a friend. i guess pretty soon they'll start having warnings like the NFL where you are subject to a lawsuit if you even talk about the movie you just bought without the express written consent of the entire cast and crew and every studio exec.

[Eug]

OK, to be more accurate...

If you write your own software to rip DVDs, it's legal to make a backup copy of discs you own.

However, it is illegal in the USA to sell that DVD ripping software or even distribute it for free. So, how are you going to legally rip your DVDs when it's illegal to get that software?

I suppose if you flew to France and got the software for personal use in the US, that'd be legal. I don't know if it's legal for a French website to serve it to US users though. Probably not but I'm not sure.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Why is that?

I'd rather have a Mac Mini that can:

(a) Play my DVDs
(b) Stream music and movies from shared iTunes libraries (similar to AppleTV's functionality)
(c) Connect via HD (DVI instead of the component connections on the AppleTV)
(d) Use an external TV tuner for TiVo-like abilities
(e) Work as a normal computer when I need to

All for only a few hundred dollars more than an AppleTV, if you buy a Mini used.

I just haven't seen anything about the AppleTV that makes me want to to get one for my HT system. My TiVo can stream with iTunes, and it's connected to my receiver, so I don't have to have my TV on to use it. It's got a good remote, a good interface...and since it's no longer legal to sell software to make backups of movies you own, it's not really technically legal to rip your DVDs into an iTunes-readable format, which means that if you want to stay 100% legal (at least by U.S. law), you'd have to buy all the movies you want in iTunes...

[icruise]

(a) Play my DVDs

But surely most people will already have a standalone DVD player in their home theater, right?

(c) Connect via HD (DVI instead of the component connections on the AppleTV)

The AppleTV connects via HD -- both HDMI and component are HD connections.

Obviously a Mac mini can do a lot more than an Apple TV (and of course it costs a lot more as well), but I don't really see how being able to play DVDs is that much of an advantage for most people. For people who would use it primarily to play or stream media, I think the Apple TV might be the better choice (I don't plan to buy either one, mind you).

[JLL]

Originally Posted by Eug 

OK, to be more accurate...

If you write your own software to rip DVDs, it's legal to make a backup copy of discs you own.

However, it is illegal in the USA to sell that DVD ripping software or even distribute it for free. So, how are you going to legally rip your DVDs when it's illegal to get that software?

Then why are Flip4Mac allowed to make Drive-in?

[icruise]

That's a good question. I hadn't heard of Drive-in before, but it could simply be that Flip4Mac has gone under the radar of the movie industry (or whoever would be in charge of suing companies that make things like this). The program is still in the public beta stage, after all. They have made an attempt to lock the DVDs that you copy to a single registration of the program, preventing people from easily exchanging DVD images, but I would think that the very act of making the copy would go against applicable laws.