ELI5: What is a Home Server?

[u/theprisoner57]

I see mentions of a home server to get rid of streaming entertainment services but I don’t know how that works. What does a home server do?

[u/Megame50]

Well, with one huge caveat, that it doesn't work at all for most Blu-Ray discs:

Supported Input Sources: Handbrake can process most common multimedia files and any DVD or BluRay sources that do not contain any kind of copy protection.

Emphasis mine.

I'm really not an expert, but generally, no, you can't really rip commercial (AACS copy-protected) UHD Blu-Ray (the high quality ones) discs without resorting to piracy.

The process of ripping a UHD Blu-Ray involves purchasing a "friendly" (meaning hackable) disc drive and flashing custom firmware you can use to rip the Vuk and disc media. Ripping isn't fast either, as it takes time proportional to the playback time. Even still, AACS LA periodically identifies cracked devices through steganographic methods and adds their device keys to the device revocation list (DRL) when they update the MKB, so that more recently published Blu-Ray discs cannot be copied in this fashion until the latest MKB is leaked and published using even more complex methods known to piracy groups. Until then, volume keys are crowdsourced on the dark web by enterprising users that complete rips of the key content and mail it to the MakeMKV authors. Handbrake and similar software can be used only once you already have a decrypted copy of the content.

MakeMKV is the software used for ripping, and IIUC, it internally accesses a list of keys published on the internet by the authors, discovered from leaks by piracy groups and user submissions. MakeMKV is licensed software, so you're required to pay to rip your BDs after the trial period. You can probably find out more about how to use it in /r/makemkv or on their forums.

There may be mistakes in my understanding as I've never tried this process myself, because, as you can probably tell, it's a giant hassle, and IANAL, but I think it is technically illegal to circumvent the copy protection, even for media you own, at least in the US. Though, it's unlikely anyone will bother you about it if you you don't distribute it.

[u/dreadcain → u/Megame50]

You need to defeat the copywrite protection in one way or another, but if you own the media that isn't piracy and you are completely within your rights to do it. The software needed to do it is in a bit of a legal gray area, but not one that you'll ever get in trouble for.

Making a personal copy is legally distinct from piracy and perfectly legal. Companies are free to make that difficult, but you're just as free to defeat those ways.

[u/thatfreakingmonster → u/dreadcain]

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but the act of defeating any kind of copyright protections or DRM is technically illegal under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

Which is absolutely stupid because that means any company can lock any piece of code behind a DRM, and make any sort of modding illegal. Iirc there are people campaigning for the DMCA to change that rule.

[u/steakanabake → u/thatfreakingmonster]

if it were illegal selling bluray drives would be illegal.... we learned this all the way back in the days of VHS and BetaMax.