Group Appeals DVD Crypto Injunction

6-Apr-00

Continuing its California courtroom battle against the Digital Video Disc (DVD) industry over DVD encryption codes, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has appealed an injunction granted against more than 50 Web site operators in January. Obtaining the injunction in a Santa Clara, California, Superior Court in late January was the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA), a not-for-profit, industry-backed organization that owns and licenses DVD encryption technology. The DVD-CCA successfully argued that the defendants in the case - Web site operators who it alleges shared classified information about DVD encryption for the purpose of pirating DVD-viewing software - violated copyright laws and stole trade secrets. For its part, foundation members contend the DVD protocols not only fail to meet the minimum standard for ""trade secrets,"" but that the Web site postings are a clear example of constitutionally protected free speech. Along those lines, the group is seeking the immediate removal of the injunction, primarily on First Amendment grounds, while continuing to fight the larger case, EFF spokesperson Tom McGuire told Newsbytes. Many of the attempts to break the DVD industry's Content Scrambling System (CSS) stemmed from the fact that no DVD viewing devices have been licensed for computers running Linux and other alternative operating systems, according to industry detractors. The tech-savvy Linux community responded by working to break the protocols and develop its own devices. In its brief filed against the DVD-CCA complaint, the EFF wrote, ""In this case, (the) plaintiff seeks an injunction of unprecedented breadth and intrusiveness on traditional free speech rights in order to defend a supposed trade secret that was never very secret at all. (The) plaintiff seeks prior restraint against hundreds of news sources on the Internet, claiming the right to enjoin discussion of their Content Scrambling System (CSS). That discussion centered on the results of efforts to break the weak security structures on which the CSS depends."" The EFF maintains an extensive library of information on the DVD-CCA case at http://www.eff.org/ip/Video/DVDCCA_casease. The DVD-CCA maintains a Web site at http://www.dvdcca.org/dvdcca/index.html, but that site contains no information about the California case. Source: Newsbytes

Read More:
http://www.eff.org/ip/Video/DVDCCA_casease
http://www.dvdcca.org/dvdcca/index.html