This is quite an idea.
With the new mechanism in place, Apple and Fox (movie studio) will allow you to load a digital copy of your DVD into iTunes.
This, as I commented to a good friend, is a landmark in copyright and fair use. For years, the few brave souls foolish enough to "rip" copies of their own DVDs have run the risk of being sued by the industry if discovered. It has been illegal for quite a while (in the US) to make a digital copy of a movie you own and put it on your computer.
No more. At least when it comes to DVDs bought from Fox and if you have iTunes. How long before other movie studios follow suit? After all, people have been ripping DVDs and making them available via torrent for a couple of years now. Tons of lost revenue to the movie studios.
Finally one saw the light and can be an industry leader in making the content legally available to their users.
We're still in the wild west days on the digital frontier but I hear they've got running water in Tombstone.. times, they are a changin'.
Posted by artandscience at January 16, 2008 07:11 AM