] A group of media and
] technology companies including Microsoft and Walt Disney
] have agreed in principle to allow consumers to make legal
] backup copies of next-generation video discs and share
] their content on portable devices.
]
] The group, which also includes International Business
] Machines, Intel, Matsushita Electric Industrial and Time
] Warner's Warner Bros., will not have any technology to
] license until the end of the year.
]
] But the announcement, released late Tuesday, marks a
] shift in the way the movie industry has reacted to the
] threat of online piracy of its films.

WOW! The industry is FINALLY coming to grips with the whole fair use concept and the fact that consumers have a RIGHT to legal archival copies of their media. -LB

Industry deal set on allowing limited DVD copying