AfterDawn: Tech news

Johansen vs Norway/MPAA round 2 in December

Written by Petteri Pyyny @ 01 Apr 2003 12:53 User comments (4)

Johansen vs Norway/MPAA round 2 in December

Norwegian economics crime division said today that an appeals court has approved to handle the prosection's appeal in case against norwegian teenager, Jon Johansen.
The trial, dubbed as "the DeCSS case", will start in December. Johansen won his case early this year in lower court, leaving movie industry healing its wounds and preparing for the next attack.

Johansen is being accused of developing a software called DeCSS that allows users to crack the weak copy-protection mechanism called CSS found on most commercial DVD-Video discs. By cracking the encryption, users that don't have access to officially licensed DVD players (like Linux users) can watch DVD movies with their computers. As a side effect, the software also allows copying the DVD-Video disc to computers harddrive and distributing it over the Internet.

The most ridiculous thing in the whole process is the fact that Norway doesn't have any laws that would outlaw such activity and therefor Johansen is basically sued under laws that are meant for crackers who break into banks' computers and steal money. So, Johansen is being sued for breaking into his own, purchased DVDs.



Source: ABCNews.com

Previous Next  

4 user comments

12.4.2003 02:48
Jarpo
Inactive

Blah. Norway is part of the Nato. No wonder why MPAA/RIAA can control that country..

22.4.2003 04:24

again, round 2 and they'll get slapped for it if the lower court ruling holds... really the recording industry needs to chill. if the recourding industry will replce any damaged cd or dvd we wouldn't need to back up our stuff... I have a 12 year old who treats cds as frizbies the way he handles them... and at $40 + for playstation games and $19.95 a dvd or $15.95 a cd they need to be protected so I back them up... and whats wrong with that. I feel that if you go to blockbuster and rent on to copy yeah they have a point . But, if all you are doing is backing up what you bought... then they are dead wrong... how about we hold them acountable for bad movies or cd's with one good song and 9 crappy ones... (thats really why people mix their own) when they could add 8 more to the cd in the first place or at least a video. The recording industry has been allowed to much leway for to long and why dont they put out movies on other formats , just because they like to give money to bill gates why should I . Johansen had a linux box and wanted to convert the file to work for him hey the fact that he at 15 could do that says they didnt do a good job in the first place... @40 I couldnt write the code to do what he did so instead of praising the kid they want to crosify him instead. maybe they need to go after the one who sold them the CSS in the first place.... and get a refund.....and then bugger off

32.4.2003 05:55

Jon Johansen is beng sued because of something legal he "commited". Am I the only one that thinks that our governments should protect us, help us and uphold a fair administartive system - not falsely acuse us because an american organization says that the accused is breaking american laws?

42.4.2003 07:39

Look at all the American hate you spew, when "America" really has nothing to do with it. If the largest and most powerful entertainment companies were located in another country, do you actually think they wouldn't bring cases like this? Copyright cases are filed ALL over the world by companies located ALL over the world. I don't blame the MPAA (Hollywood) for taking this route. I don't think they actually expected to win this case. The loss will be used by the MPAA as ammunition in future attempts to lobby for change in copyright laws. It's big business, that means making as many dollars as possible while giving the consumer as little as there willing to accept for each of those dollars. The sad thing is, if this case were actually happening in America the MPAA wouldn't have a chance of winning. They may not have even been able to get any charges filed. In the end I hope and think Jon will be acquitted. Oh, and if the MPAA can make the Norwegian economics crime division bring a meritless case against a teenager, is the problem there really with the MPAA? Hmmm.........

Comments have been disabled for this article.

Latest news

VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads (16 Mar 2024 4:31)
VLC Media Player, the versatile video-software powerhouse, has achieved a remarkable feat: it has been downloaded over 5 billion times.
2 user comments
Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit (19 Dec 2023 11:09)
Google settled its lawsuit in September 2023, and one of the settlement terms was that the way applications are installed on Android from outside the Google Play Store must become simpler. In the future, installing APK files will be easier.
8 user comments
Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19)
Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38)
Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028.
5 user comments
How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25)
The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. ....
18 user comments

News archive