[Fwd: EFFector 17.7: Court Overturns Ban on Posting DVD Descrambling Code]

["Olga Francois" <ofrancois@xxxxxxxx>]

FYI...

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: EFFector 17.7: Court Overturns Ban on Posting DVD Descrambling
Code
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 00:22:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Effector List <alerts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ofrancois@xxxxxxxx

EFFector    Vol. 17, No. 7    March 2, 2004          donna@xxxxxxx

* Court Overturns Ban on Posting DVD Descrambling Code, Finds 
Free-Speech Violation

No Evidence DeCSS Was a Trade Secret When Bunner Published

San Jose, CA - A California appeals court on Friday overturned as 
unconstitutional a 1999 trade secret injunction against Andrew 
Bunner that prohibited him from distributing the DeCSS DVD 
decryption computer code.  The court found there was no evidence 
that the Content Scrambling System (CSS) encryption technology 
used in DVD movie disks was still a trade secret by the time 
that Bunner posted DeCSS code on his website.  The Court 
therefore held that the injunction violated Bunner's 
constitutional free-speech rights.

"We are thrilled that the Appeal Court recognized that the 
injunction restricting Andrew Bunner's freedom of speech was 
not justified," said EFF Staff Attorney Gwen Hinze.  "The 
Court's ruling that there was no evidence that CSS was 
still a trade secret when Bunner posted DeCSS vindicates 
what we have said all along: DeCSS has been available on 
thousands of websites around the world for many years."

"This long-delayed but gratifying victory sends a strong 
message to those who would try to misuse intellectual property 
laws and corporate power to stifle free speech on the Internet," 
said Richard Wiebe, a San Francisco attorney who represents 
Bunner along with EFF.  "The Court of Appeal correctly 
recognized the obvious conclusion that information that is 
in the public domain and that has been republished for 
years around the world can't be a trade secret."

For the full media release:
<http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20040227_eff_pr.php>

Decision by the California Court of Appeal for the Sixth 
Appellate District:
<http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20040227_Decision.pdf>

DVD CCA v. Bunner case archive:
<http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/>


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* 321 Counts Down for Fair Use

EFF encourages the public to speak out for fair use rights by 
participating in the week-long campaign led by 321 Studios, 
makers of the popular DVD backup software recently enjoined by 
a California district court. 

"The public's rights to fair use of copyrighted works should not 
disappear in the face of technological restrictions," said EFF 
Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer.  "To bring back copyright's balance, 
we encourage individuals to write to Congress and the 
entertainment industry about their expectations when purchasing 
movies and other media."  

For more on 321 Studios' "Protect Fair Use" campaign, please visit 
their website: <http://www.protectfairuse.org>

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