When Flash Video files are simply hosted on a web site with no encryption, it's unlikely that tools to download, edit, or remix them are illegal. Recall that the DMCA sets out a blanket ban on tools that help 'circumvent' any DRM system (as well as the act of circumvention itself).

We imagine that Adobe has no illusions that this will stop copyright infringement - any more than dozens of other DRM systems have done so - but the introduction of encryption does give Adobe and its customers a powerful new legal weapon against competitors and ordinary users through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Instead of an ordinary web download, these programs can use a proprietary, secret Adobe protocol to talk to each other, encrypting the communication and locking out non-Adobe software players and video tools. Now Adobe, which controls Flash and Flash Video, is trying to change that with the introduction of DRM restrictions in version 9 of its Flash Player and version 3 of its Flash Media Server software. And thus far there has been no widespread DRM standard for Flash or Flash Video formats indeed, most sites that use these formats simply serve standalone, unencrypted files via ordinary web servers. The proliferation of sites using FLV has been a boon for remix culture, as creators made their own versions of posted videos.

The immense popularity of sites like YouTube has unexpectedly turned Flash Video (FLV) into one of the de facto standards for Internet video.

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