Quote Originally Posted by Sirrahsim
Of course freeware is free. With the legal aspects involved in decrypting a commercial dvd for viewing on a computer as they are, a freeware version of the plug-in is not available. If someone is claiming to be distributing a "freeware" version then they are ripping off the patent holders. Then again I guess it isn't any worse then stealing music by downloading it for free online..

This is an excerpt from pchell.com:
Developing and certifying a DVD decoder requires that additional licensing and royalty fees be paid to the various patentholders of DVD technology. This is why DVD decoders are not available as "free" software. Usually when you buy a DVD player for a computer it comes with DVD decoder software, but what if you bought a second-hand computer or purchased a refurbished computer and it didnt come with decoder software.
You dont need on plug-in to decode dvd's. But you do need one to use the DVD drive. Windows media player works just fine to play DVD's. Right now i am playing Irobot in WIndows Media Player.