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MDdan · June 14th, 2002, 02:52 PM

Since I think this is technically breaking the DMCA, I'll tell you about my "friend"

My friend is in an Online Master of Science program, and the instructor recorded a class that he was unable to present live. It was saved in .wmv format, which apparently doesn't allow fast forward or reverse.

1.5 hours into class, the stream dies....1 hour to go, no way to get back to that point without listening to the first 1.5 hours again.

This "friend" viewed the source of the page, downloaded the 77mb .wmv file, tried changing the extention to .asf, hoping it would then allow fast forward. No luck.

Then he found an app that converts .wmv to .avi, thus allowing editing or in this case #$% fast forward.

.wmv is Microsoft's proprietary format to protect media files, "breaking" it would be considered a violation of the DMCA, which I think is a felony.

Did my "friend" commit a felony by simply trying to attending class? I fear that he may have. LOL...is there something wrong with this picture?

June 14th, 2002, 02:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
MDdan Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 857	Attend Class - Commit a felony (DMCA) Since I think this is technically breaking the DMCA, I'll tell you about my "friend" My friend is in an Online Master of Science program, and the instructor recorded a class that he was unable to present live. It was saved in .wmv format, which apparently doesn't allow fast forward or reverse. 1.5 hours into class, the stream dies....1 hour to go, no way to get back to that point without listening to the first 1.5 hours again. This "friend" viewed the source of the page, downloaded the 77mb .wmv file, tried changing the extention to .asf, hoping it would then allow fast forward. No luck. Then he found an app that converts .wmv to .avi, thus allowing editing or in this case #$% fast forward. .wmv is Microsoft's proprietary format to protect media files, "breaking" it would be considered a violation of the DMCA, which I think is a felony. Did my "friend" commit a felony by simply trying to attending class? I fear that he may have. LOL...is there something wrong with this picture?