the real point ... if you are using the work-around for copy protection to copy your own goods ..then you are breaking no laws.
As far as the microsux point you made ..good one ..but i was caught in another thought when writing that ... they are much bigger than the movie industry as a whole with influence in every which direction on everyday life.
music and video ... i really can't imagine not having it unless i was amish or a menadite ... which are perfectly good beliefs ..but not for me.
The DMCA explicitly denies you the right to reverse engineer digital copy protection schemes and has been upheld by the courts numerous times. It is not at odds with the fair use doctrine from much earlier because fair use allows time shifting only which can be achieved through digital to analog to digital. However macrovision does circumvent digital to analog, and Macrovision is protected by import control laws that prevent importation of analog copy protection free VCRs.
The protection Nazi's have won. They have usurped the DMCA to even include analog. Note the DMCA guarantees media owners fines of $184k per song or movie. That will bankrupt just about anybody. Fighting back is futile and too costly.
BOYCOTT is the only answer.
Sony is one of the top 20 largest corporations in the world. They could buy MS out of chump change. Sony is also one of the biggest music and movie houses. That "MS has the power" dog don't hunt.
ARGGGH! Give up music and video, hell no. Just stop buying new stuff for 6 months. I have over 200 VCR tapes of movies I can watch until the new ones hit HBO where I can legally tape them. Music, I have countless titles dating back 40 years worth listening to. Anyone who says they can't live without buying new media for 6 months has serious issues and no interest in taking back control of the property they paid for.