Da_Taxman used our newssubmit to tell us:
First it was Napster, now it is the DeCSS again. What is wrong with these companies...why don't they accept that their so called property is freely distributed to the people
The stage is set for the next round between the largest Hollywood studios and a journalist who was barred from publishing software code that allows video discs to be copied, with the two sides to face off in a federal appellate court sometime this spring. |
In August, a U.S. district court ruled against Eric Corley -- publisher of magazine and Web site 2600 (http://www.26000.org) devoted to the hacker culture -- who claimed that his publication of the code that enables the unscrambling of DVD's was protected by the ``free speech'' provision of the First Amendment.
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They successfully argued in August that Corley's posting of the code violated provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (news - web sites) that prohibit distributing software that circumvents technology designed to protect copyrighted works.
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The code, called Decode Content Scrambling System (DeCSS (news - web sites)), essentially breaks down the security embedded in DVD's that prevent users from making digital copies of films.
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In addition to the First Amendment argument, The Electronic Frontier Foundation argued in its January brief that the code has legitimate uses. It cited movie critics who wish to use excerpts of films for criticism and security experts who want to study encryption on DVD's, as two examples among others.
Digital compression technology has made it possible for people to make copies of films and songs that are easy to distribute over the Internet, forcing old-line entertainment companies and upstart technology firms to reconsider intellectual property issues.
Source: dailynews.yahoo.com
