Johansen who originally cracked the CSS encryption protection system on DVDs in the late 90's has pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in the landmark appeal. He was originally cleared
of piracy charges in an Oslo court back in January as the court ruled that he could do what ever he wanted with DVDs that he had legally purchased. There was also insufficient evidence at the time that his program was used to make and distribute illegal copies of DVDs. An appeal was later lodged to determine if he broke law by cracking the copy-protection on DVDs.
The movie industry is anxious to win this case to tell hackers that cracking their copy-protection is really asking for trouble. The MPAA estimate a $ 3 billion annual loss in sales as a result in movie piracy. This case is expected to end on December 12 with a verdict expected in early 2004. If Johansen's previous ruling is overturned by this appeal, it will make it illegal to bypass any DVD restrictions including region codes and navigation restrictions in Norway despite there being no current legislation there to protect digital content. GristyMcFisty submitted the following news from Yahoo via our news submit :
| A Norwegian who defeated Hollywood on piracy charges pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in a landmark appeal hearing that the movie industry is anxious to win to protect its lucrative DVD business. Prosecutors, on behalf of major U.S. film studios, will try to prove that 20-year-old Jon Johansen broke Norwegian law when he developed and distributed a computer program that enables consumers to make personal copies of their DVDs. The industry hopes to send a message to hackers that it will fight on any turf those who crack into their copy-protection systems in a global crackdown on piracy. The plaintiffs, the Motion Picture Association of America -- representing Hollywood studios like Walt Disney Co., Universal Studios and Warner Bros -- estimate that piracy costs the U.S. motion picture industry $ 3 billion annually in lost sales. The case in the Oslo Appeals Court is set to end on December 12 with a verdict expected in early 2004. Johansen was dubbed "DVD-Jon" by the Internet community after he devised a computer program -- DeCSS -- in the late 1990s that enabled consumers to circumvent copy-protection technology embedded in ordinary DVDs. Read the full article here. |
As long as there is piracy the content and copyright owners will try and find a way of fighting it no matter what happens. But as long as a pirate can use a camcorder to film the TV and hold a microphone up to the speaker, there will be always be the opportunity to make even a low quality copy to replicate for the black market since most pirates do not care about quality or offer a 'money back guarantee'. The only thing these copy-protection measures end up stopping are those who wish to make a personal high quality legitimate backup copy of their purchased media.
Discuss and read more about copy protection systems on our Copy Protection Discussion Forum.
Source: Yahoo Technology News
