“Apple Computer’s video iPod may not be the first portable movie player, but it is by far the best. The one serious flaw in this svelte little device is how difficult it is to load with video. Apple’s otherwise handy iTunes application flatly refuses to transfer a legally purchased DVD to the iPod,” Declan McCullagh writes for CNET.
“Don’t blame Apple for this glaring oversight. You can thank our esteemed public servants in Congress,” McCullagh writes. “In 1998, politicians bowed to pressure from the entertainment industry and voted overwhelmingly for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Part of that law made it a federal offense to sell or distribute software that can rip DVDs. In other words, believe it or not, Apple CEO Steve Jobs would be guilty of a federal felony if iTunes transferred DVDs to an iPod as easily as it can music from a CD.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader “Too Hot!” for the link.]
For ripping DVDs for use on Apple iPod, give the free HandBrake DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter a try (Mac-only, Windows port under construction): http://handbrake.m0k.org/
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