New software gives Linux a legal way to run DVDs

A California company plans to release software that will allow Linux users to use DVD drives legally.

InterVideo, a licensee of the software that enables DVD information to be decoded, plans to release beta software called LinDVD this month that allows people to watch DVDs on Linux machines, the company said.

Users of the Linux operating system currently can't watch DVDs without using a decryption program called DeCSS, which hackers created without official sanction. DeCSS currently is at the center of an ongoing lawsuit, in which the Motion Picture Association of America argues that the software enables DVD piracy.

The InterVideo product functions by handling all the decryption in software, the company said. The company's comparable Windows product, called WinDVD, is used on computers from Dell, IBM, HP, Compaq, Toshiba, Gateway and others.

Using software to decode DVDs lessens the expense of hardware. However, it also demands higher-performance computers.