The DVD Copy Control Association is considering changes to its bylaws that will prevent OEMs from selling systems that make copies of movies, even for secure internal storage on a hard disk.

This is the second attempt this year to bring in the changes that are seen as a reaction to the group's loss in a key civil suit it brought against startup company Kaleidescape earlier this year.

The DVD CCA, a consortium of studios and consumer electronics companies, licenses the security technology for accessing encrypted video on DVDs. Its proposed amendments would make it a violation of the license for anyone to make a system that stores a persistent copy of a video or decrypts a video when the physical disc is not present.

The Kaleidescape system acts like a high-end video jukebox, storing copies of movies from hundreds of disks on an array of hard drives for later playback. Kaleidescape and the DVD CCA fiercely debated in court earlier this year whether its system adheres to the contract and adequately secures copies of movies stored on its hard drives. A judge ruled Kaleidescape was not in violation of the contract, primarily because the contract was worded and administered in a confusing manner.

The amendments were originally intended for a vote at a June meeting of a DVD CCA subcommittee, however, the group apparently tabled the issue. The DVD CCA had put out a notice for comment about the proposed amendments to all its members including Kaleidescape.

Story filed 11.11.07