Wednesday, June 16, 2004

321 Studios in big trouble

321 Studios, maker of DVD copying software, is in big trouble and close to shutting down. 321 studios' problems are from a lack of demand for their product or poor management. This company is in trouble because Congress and Hollywood have conspired through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to eliminate fair use! As someone who has a couple of nephews who would destroy a DVD if they got their hands on it, I am a supporter of software to create backups of DVDs. The DMCA needs to be overhauled to allow real fair use of copyrighted material.

With all the lawsuits that have been thrown at 321 Studios, and the injunction set forth by the courts that has halted sales of their software, Hollywood is once again making a huge mistake. Rather than having a few companies that they can work with / control, Hollywood will now have to deal with open source software available from around the Globe where the DMCA has no jurisdiction. This reminds me of the RIAA shutting down Napster rather than working with them... and we all know how that worked out.

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