Californian Supreme Court decided today that a piece of code that we know as the DeCSS code, can't be protected by U.S. constitution's free speech amendment.
The case was filed originally back in 1999 by DVD CCA against dozens of Californian (and, apparently, residents from other states as well) residents, accusing them of violating DVD CCA's trade secrets by distributing a code, the DeCSS, that allows circumventing the copy protection mechanisms found on DVD-Video discs.
District court originally granted a preliminary injunction against the individuals that banned them from distributing the code. Other defendants on the case accepted the decision, but one individual, Andrew Bunner, took the case to appeals court. Appeals court stated in November 2001 that distributing the DeCSS code is protected by the First Amendment (the free speech amendment in American constitution), but DVD CCA took the case to the California Supreme Court which now delivered its decision.
However, by reading the court decision, the court decided that code is protected by the free speech, but in this particular case, its value in overall conversation was, according to court, overweighted by the accused trade secret violations. Now, California Supreme Court has asked the Appeals Court to look at its decision again and determine whether distributing the DeCSS can be classified as a trade secret violation or not.
"We are pleased that the court has found that a strong level of First Amendment scrutiny applies in trade secrets cases," said Gwen Hinze, a laywer of Electronic Frontier Foundation who has worked on the case and defended Bunner. "We don't think that there is a trade secret here."
Source: BusinessWeek
District court originally granted a preliminary injunction against the individuals that banned them from distributing the code. Other defendants on the case accepted the decision, but one individual, Andrew Bunner, took the case to appeals court. Appeals court stated in November 2001 that distributing the DeCSS code is protected by the First Amendment (the free speech amendment in American constitution), but DVD CCA took the case to the California Supreme Court which now delivered its decision.
However, by reading the court decision, the court decided that code is protected by the free speech, but in this particular case, its value in overall conversation was, according to court, overweighted by the accused trade secret violations. Now, California Supreme Court has asked the Appeals Court to look at its decision again and determine whether distributing the DeCSS can be classified as a trade secret violation or not.
"We are pleased that the court has found that a strong level of First Amendment scrutiny applies in trade secrets cases," said Gwen Hinze, a laywer of Electronic Frontier Foundation who has worked on the case and defended Bunner. "We don't think that there is a trade secret here."
Source: BusinessWeek
