Before we get started, let me reiterate (I have said this many times in the past) from the start that copying of rented, retail, or purchased CDs or DVDs for profit or to give to friends is illegal and is theft. Even though this column does discuss some of the issues, you shouldn't forget the bottom line - don't copy!
I was a bit intrigued the other day when I saw a program for sale at one of the local stores called "DVD X Copy". I had heard of this program before and thought it might be interesting to check it out. (For brevity, we will refer to it as DX in the remainder of this column.) DX, from 321 Studios (www.321studio.com), claims to be the only legal program to allow you to copy a DVD. As you might imagine, there are a LOT of issues involved in doing this.
I installed the program and tried it. It actually did work as advertised, and make a very god copy of one of my DVDs. The program and documentation strenuously discuss and enforce that your use of it should be legal purposes only. But that is only the start of the analysis!
First of all, how is it legal to copy DVDs? You need to become familiar with the DMCA - the Digital Millennium Copyright Act passed by Congress in 1998. I won't attempt to go into all of it, but the act does attempt to define what you as the purchaser of copyrighted material can do with it. It does say that you can make a copy of the copyrighted material for archive or backup purposes. That means that you can take an expensive DVD and make a copy of it for every day use. If you have young kids or grandkids, this can be a real boon. I have seen kids destroy these things easily. If you keep the original clean, you can just make another working copy. But these copies have to be for your personal use, you have to have legitimately purchased the original, and you can't give it to somebody else, even for free.
One serious provision of the DMCA is that you cannot make a copy if you circumvent any copy protection scheme put in place by the manufacturer. So, in effect, you can only make a copy if they let you. But you need to realize that all data on CDs and DVDs is encoded in digital form - i.e. the music or movie really doesn't exist in any plain form. If you take a very extreme view of it, then you should never be able to copy a CD or DVD because it is always encoded in some way. 321 Studios believes that the DVD format is sufficiently in the public domain to allow the copying.
A second issue is technical. Commercial DVDs can be written in one of two formats - the normal 4.7 GB data capacity (usually referred to as DVD5) and a double layer format which holds about 8.5 GB, called DVD9. DVD writers on PCs only write DVD5. So, if the DVD you are copying is a DVD9, you have three choices - eliminate some of the data (such as other language tracks or special features), use two DVD5 DVDs, or further compress the video. DX reads and handles the DVD9 format, and does not recompress the video data unless it has to.
Now to the program itself. I didn't like it. First, I found that it regularly communicates with the 321 Studios server via the Internet and is, in effect, keeping track of what you copy. When you register and activate your copy (which you have to do), your name is recorded as having done so. You might become a target of future lawsuits from the DVD manufacturers. This was an eye-opener to me!
I also found that the program I bought (for about $50) was what they call the Express version. This has no options whatsoever. You can't select which data not to copy, nor can you select to use two DVD5 DVDs. After emailing 321 Studios, I found that I had to spend $20 more to get the full version! Bait and switch, as far as I am concerned.
So, I am going to uninstall it and return the software to where I bought it. Yes, it works, but I didn't like the way the company did business. Lessons learned…
Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his web site at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail questions or column ideas to him at bsc@bobseidel.com. For specific inquiries, please call Bob Seidel Consulting, LLC at 278-1007.