Web Sites Sued For DVD Piracy

An effort by the movie industry to prevent illegal copying of digital video discs, or DVDs, could turn into a crucial battle over the fundamental rights of Internet users.At issue is the question of whether Web site operators can help distribute a piece of software that can defeat the security system built into millions of DVDs, thus enabling people to make illegal copies.DVD is one of the biggest success stories in consumer electronics. The technology can store a full-length movie on a disc the same size as a standard music CD. And the DVD produces image and sound quality far superior to that of videotape. Just two years after introduction of the devices, consumers have purchased about 5 million of them. Major Hollywood studios are rushing to release DVD versions of popular movies.One reason the studios like DVD is because the system includes special encryption technology that is supposed to make it impossible to copy a DVD. But in November, computer hackers in Norway unveiled a program called DeCSS that breaks the DVD encryption system.Now the DVD Copy Control Association Inc., a DVD industry group, is moving to prevent a wave of DVD piracy. The association filed suit Monday in a California state court against dozens of Internet sites, demanding that they stop distributing DeCSS.The association didn't just sue Web sites that feature DeCSS software. It also demanded that dozens of Web pages remove links to other sites where the software is available. For instance, many visitors to the popular technical Web site Slashdot have posted messages that include links to DeCSS. The lawsuit would require Slashdot to remove all such messages from its site, arguing that merely posting links to the illegal software is itself illegal.''Information posted on defendants' Web sites establishes that they are fully aware that, in posting or linking to the DeCSS program, they are wrongfully appropriating proprietary trade secrets,'' the association's complaint reads.The offices of the association are closed for the holidays, and the group's attorney declined to speak with the Globe. But reactions from others ranged from skepticism to outright hostility.''I've got to say, I wouldn't want to be them,'' said Jonathan Zittrain, lecturer in Internet law at Harvard Law School. For one thing, Zittrain said, DeCSS may not be illegal in Norway, where it was invented.That's certainly the view of one of the crackers, Frank Stevenson, a programmer for a Norwegian game maker who helped develop DeCSS as a hobby. ''This is what cryptographers do for fun,'' Stevenson said. ''You get your hands on a new cryptosystem and figure out if it's any good. I found out this one wasn't any good.'' Stevenson said his actions are legal in Norway.In addition, Zittrain said he doubts that a judge would order the operator of a Web site to stop linking to some other Web site. 'My guess is that a judge is going to be pretty skeptical,'' Zittrain said.But this month, a federal judge in Utah issued a temporary injunction that forced operators of a Web site to remove links to pirated documents belonging to the Mormon church. The site operators may appeal the injunction.Victory for the DVD industry could cause worries for a variety of Internet services. For instance, Waltham-based Lycos Inc. runs an index of music files on the Internet. Many of these files are illegal copies of commercial recordings. A ruling in favor of the DVD industry would raise the prospect that Lycos's music index either would have to shut down or be modified to ensure that only legal recordings would be listed.In the meantime, angry visitors to Slashdot have discussed holding a protest this morning (Wednesday, December 29, 1999) at the Santa Clara County courthouse where the suit was filed.Other Slashdot users are urging people to download DeCSS and to post it in as many places on the Internet as possible, on the theory that it will be impossible to shut down all the sites.And sites where the software is currently available are receiving heavy traffic from people seeking to get copies for themselves.""More people have downloaded the program from my server today than in the last 30 days,'' wrote Slashdot user Andrew Thomas McLaughlin, who is listed as a defendant in the suit. ''I suppose I have the law firm to thank for that.''Rob Malda, Editor-In-Chief at Slashdot, said he isn't worried about the legal action against his site. Slashdot is now owned by Andover.net Inc. of Acton, and Malda said he'll let the company's attorneys worry about the matter. But he added that if the lawsuit is successful, there will be a chilling effect on Internet free speech, because many people would be afraid to link to someone else's Web site, which might contain copyrighted material.This story ran on page C01 of the Boston Globe on December 29,1999.© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.Letter To The EditorWednesday, December 29 1999From: Rick MoenTo: bray@globe.comSubject: What DeCSS Is And Isn'tDear Hiawatha:After coming back from the DVD DCC hearing in San Jose (which was interesting, and the judge will issue his decision this afternoon), I came across your ""Globe"" piece, ""Web Sites Sued For DVD Piracy.""There are a few things you ought to know, for further coverage:You wrote: ""At issue is the question of whether Web site operators can help distribute a piece of software that can defeat the security system built into millions of DVDs, thus enabling people to make illegal copies.""Um, no. DeCSS isn't ""relevant"" to copying. Period. I will explain.You can copy a movie (or other) DVD on Linux as follows: Install the UDF filesystem driver (a beta). Connect your DVD player to your machine's SCSI port. Insert DVD disc. Mount the filesystem. Do an ""ls"" (directory command). You will now see a directory of extremely, obscenely large (many gigs' worth) files, one or more of which are encrypted MPEGs. Those MPEGs are the movie(s).Copy the DVD's filesystem (or even just the individual MPEG files, actually). Burn a new one onto recordable DVD media, using a read-write player. Congratulations, your copy is 100 percent as usable as the original.By the way, you've just spent something like $50 on raw media cost, plus the cost of your read-write player, your expertise and trouble, and a fearsome amount of your time. Realising this, you feel properly sheepish, because you could have bought that second copy of ""The Matrix"" in a nice jewel box with liner notes for much less time, trouble, and money. With better quality control, and a warranty.So, what's DeCSS about?It's for ""viewing,"" not copying. It lets you read an encrypted MPEG, from either a legit DVD or a bootleg one you made at ridiculous expense, on the operating system of your choice, on the continent of your choice.The DVD consortium is applying pressure because it has (already) lost control over where and on what machines you read your legitimately-bought DVD discs on.DeCSS allows users on Linux, FreeBSD, BeOS, and many other operating systems gain access to the DVD movies they paid for, an ability they never had before October 1999.It also means the DVD trade associations can no longer prevent such users from playing a European DVD in Boston, or a US-made DVD in Japan. The industry tries to prevent exactly such usage.One might argue that the industry had a right to prevent all of those uses. I wouldn't contest that - but just would point out that the entertainment industry chose an incompetently designed and implemented method to enforce its will, an algorithm that was broken with very little effort. Indeed, if anyone might have good cause to sue in this picture, it's the MPAA: against the DVD Copy Control Association Inc., and whoever else concocted this technical travesty in the first place.And, more to the point, those issues have nothing at all - zip, nada -to do with ""illegal copying"" or ""DVD piracy"".I'd appreciate it if you'd so inform your readers.Thanks very much.CheersRick MoenRick@linuxmafia.com