Hi, -I really need to find out if certain software like (PLF) pkgs & using MP3,MMS Streaming ,Libdvdcss,mpeg2 W32Codecs etc is Illegal in Australia as I heard that some Countries are OK with free Codecs Like Canada.

The Main one I,m interested in mainly is Software to do with MMS Streaming like Libmss & Gstreamer-mss .

I know this Topic has been Talked about lots of times on the Web But I could never find the straight answers I was looking for as Well as finding out if their Legal in Australia.
Thanks anyOne

If you want to know whether software is legal or not in Australia you need to talk to a suitably qualified legal practitioner; what would geeks know about the law?

Well w32Codecs are not free...
Libdvdcss - is certainly not legal in the US, dunno bout where you are at..

Anything in the Debian main repository should be relatively safe, since Debian is 100% free provided you stick to the correct repositories. If you start adding packages from Debian-multimedia.org or the non-free repository then you have crossed the line from free to other..

If you are looking to stream I would look at free solutions like Darwin, VLC, Fluxmotion.

http://www.howtoforge.com/apples-dar...-on-centos-5.2
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/streaming.html
http://www.flumotion.net/

Then just avoid any proprietary codecs and you should be in good shape,..
or purchase legal codecs for Linux.. http://www.fluendo.com/press/releases/PR-2007-01.html

you can get a quick overview of the licensing for the codecs here..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_video_codecs

Theora is the only codec that is truly 100% safe. - unencumbered, with no proprietary pieces.

I don't know what the rules for usage are on the others, but you can be pretty certain if your site where to become as popular as say YouTube, and you were using a proprietary codec, someone would want a piece of you.


IANAL - and I agree get professional legal advice.

Matroska is also free.

For codecs'es have a look at the links provided by farslayer. In most cases (if not all) you can find free open-source alternatives for those.

The problem is libdvdcss. Apart from the US very few countries have a made a clear stand. So Australia (like the UK) is most likely in the same gray area. However given that this library have been around for years, and that in one of the few cases brought before the courts, the film industry lost (the DVD-Jon case in Norway). I would be tempted to go as far as saying that since no cases have been brought, the film industry have accepted that libdvdcss is legal. The argument that legalised it in Norway was that the industry cannot dictate how you can view a DVD you have bought. That the same library can be used to illegally copy DVDs is not your problem (or as in the case in Norway, the creator's problem).

So in most places (with the exception of USA and possibly some others) I would think it is legal to use libdvdcss to view otherwise legally obtained DVDs.

Mons

EDIT: Check Ubuntu's advice on libdvdcss: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeFormats#Video
It makes the case that viewing legally obtained videos using this library is legal even in the US.

Theora's licensing is very permissive, but bits are patented and bits are proprietary. Don't confuse 'free to tinker', 'free to use', 'proprietary', and 'patented' - those are all very different issues which happen to cross paths at times. The eye-pee trolls would love to have people confused like this because it helps their eye-pee crusade. People need to understand the fundamental issues so they can laugh at the eye-pee trolls and tell the trolls what they can go do with themselves.

Theora is Patent Free...

http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/playogg-theora-1.0
http://www.theora.org/faq/#14

VP3 has some patents but that has been handled as well..
http://www.theora.org/faq/#24

Is there another piece I am missing ?

Ahh here it is..
Unrevocable free license still sounds pretty good to me.

I have been using Linux as my No.1 distro for a number of years now & its only just sunk in that certain codecs etc could be illegal as I couldnt understand how you could be made to pay to be able to watch a DVD for example.
I am also wondering if there are sites that may sell codecs cheap ,as I think Linux is so good that I couldnt care if I paid a couple of dollars for a codec or 2 so I can install them on any linux Distro I use -wether its for a years liscence or lifetime ,as no matter how much better Linux gets it will hopefully always be free unlike having to pay to upgrade Windows.

Maybe someone could sell codecs cheap which you then own but if you want to upgrade it in a year or 2 then they could charge a 50 cents or a dollar for every codec upgrade ,But if you dont upgrade it then you still have your Codecs for life to use on linux, .
AnyWay

If you already have codecs because, for example, you have a paid copy of WinDuhs I don't see how anyone can say you've done anything illegal. Although the text of the trade agreement between USA and Australia seems to indicate that Australia is meant to produce laws similar to the DMCA and also accept software patents, I doubt that the legislators have been in any great hurry to do that. So if it's for private use, you already have other codecs, and you paid for your DVDs, I don't see how you can be doing anything illegal by watching your DVDs. Even in the USA where some people have suggested that using software like dvdcss to watch your own DVDs may be a violation of the DMCA, I don't believe that is so; I can't imagine a judge who would think it is illegal to watch the DVDs you paid for (unless you robber the neighbor to get a player). I can just imagine the headline: "Man goes to jail for watching Terminator 2".