AVI Conversion?

[David Thrasher]

I'm not altogether sure that the DivX codec in and of itself is illegal. I know it's being used a lot to make illegal copies of movies for filesharing but I've never heard anything about it being illegal or related directly to MPEG. 

What I seem to recall is that it was the codec that was to be used for those DivX DVDs (same name, different animal) where the idea was that you would buy the disks really cheap and be able to play them for a limited time. Your player would be connected to a phone line to facilitate you buying more time to play it. The idea went over with the public like a lead balloon and Divx the DVD disappeared fast. As I understood it, the codec was abandoned and has been floating around ever since being improved by others. I don't know if my information is 100% accurate but it's what I seem to recall.  

I've seen varying quality of DivX files from those I've been shown and it appears that it depends on how it is done (bit rate, etc.) but the best is DVD quality and looks very good with a amazingly small file size. The only for sure illegal thing about DivX that I am aware of is how it is being used. I can conceive of there being people out there using it legitimately for their own movies. The MPAA I'm sure can't even imagine that possibility. MP3 is a legitimate format too, but because of how it is being used, I'm sure there are a lot of people who think it too is illegal.

-Dave

>It may be that it's in DIVx, the illegal bastard rip-off of >MPEG-4 that won't die.  The MPEG standards group should sue over >DIVx.  But there is a DIVx codec you can download for QuickTime.