Why can't we rip a DVD using iTunes?

[GSX]

Hi,

This is my first post so be gentle... 😱

I'm just wondering why we can't rip DVDs using iTunes? Why doesn't Apple enable such a feature?

It seems to me a lot of the early popularity of iTunes and iPods came from people ripping their CDs and uploading the music to their iPods. I would think having the ability to rip DVDs using iTunes would help to do for digital video what ripping CDs did for digital audio(i.e. mp3s).

I think the ability to rip DVDs would give the TV a real boost.

I think an TV would be cool to have, but I have no interest in buying videos from the iTunes store. I would rather rip my own DVDs and be able to watch them with the convenience of an TV. I know there are work arounds and hacks to get other video on the TV, but I don't really like them, they are so un-Apple. I just want to pop in a DVD, pick my bitrate(or DVD equivalent), and rip away. (I'm sure there are others with the same feelings as me.)

I think if Apple wants to get more people onboard with digital/streaming video with iTunes and the TV they should include DVD ripping as a feature.

What is stopping Apple? Is it a legal issue? Does Apple not want anything competing with its iTunes store?

What does everyone think?

 

[Nermal]

Basically, the difference is copy protection. Music CDs don't have any copy protection, so it's generally accepted (and legal in the US, I believe) to copy that music onto your computer.

DVDs, on the other hand, have copy protection. The protection is trivial, but it's still there. It is against US law to remove that protection.

Interestingly, the ill-fated HD DVD format had a feature called "mandatory managed copy", which allowed users to make a limited number of copies of the movie. This seems to be similar to Blu-ray's "digital copy" feature, although I've never seen either technology in action.

 

[RubbishBBspeed]

there goes the digital rights management again. do they not realise DRM is a dead duck. the immovable force ie. the labels vs the unstoppable object ie. the public will always and have always been at loggerheads. personally i'm so peeved that i cn got to the states, buy and itunes voucher and down load a video. yet get back to blighty and try to get the next episode and low and behold it boots me out for being in the wrong territory.

It's they same reason why it will take another 20 years to get proper streaming..... because some bugger some where stands to make an absolute fortune stopping the likes of you and me from getting what we want.

 

[GermanSuplex]

I think it's illegal, although I could be wrong.

If it wasn't illegal, then the movie companies would whine and moan and pull their content from the iTunes store.

 

[Nermal]

personally i'm so peeved that i cn got to the states, buy and itunes voucher and down load a video. yet get back to blighty and try to get the next episode and low and behold it boots me out for being in the wrong territory.

Something that annoyed me even more is when I picked up a few Blu-rays from over there (carefully checking the region codes). I brought them home and most work fine as they're usable in all regions. One, however, pops up a big red screen saying that you need a region A player. This is not mentioned anywhere on the packaging 😡