Lasse Penttinen
5 Jan 2004 7:04
It looks like that the legal battle in between the famous cracker of the DVD's protection scheme and the movie industry is over for good. The Norwegian police, which sued Jon Johansen for the behalf of the music industry, has chosen not to appeal on the decision of the Norwegian Supreme Court.
Police "have decided not to appeal the ruling in the DVD case. The acquittal in the District Court will therefore stand," they said in a statement, but gave no further detail.Source: News.com
The appeals court said Johansen, hailed by hackers worldwide as a hero for free speech, had not broken the law by helping to unlock a code and distribute a computer program on the Internet that enables unauthorized copying of DVD movies.
He made the program, called DeCSS, when he was only 15. Supporters worldwide have portrayed the trials as a David-against-Goliath battle over a teenager's right to free speech.