Posted on 01/25/2004 8:48:28 PM PST by AuthenticLiberal
San Jose, California - In a surprising retreat today, the consortium of entertainment and technology companies known as DVD CCA is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit against Andrew Bunner, a republisher of a computer program created to allow movie lovers to play their DVDs on computers running the Linux operating system.
DVD CCA effectively gave up a multi-year effort to have the republication of the program, called DeCSS, declared a violation of trade secret laws.
"DeCSS has been available on hundreds if not thousands of websites for 4 years now," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "We're pleased that the DVD CCA has finally stopped attempting to deny the obvious: DeCSS is not a secret."
The California Supreme Court last year ruled that one could apply preliminary restraint on publication of a computer program only in very narrow circumstances. DVD CCA sued Bunner along with hundreds of people, including some T-shirt manufacturers.
(Excerpt) Read more at eff.org ...
Real hard to figure out why The DVD CCA surrendered....
...Who we vitally need if we're going to have any of the Constitution left for our children!
-Support gun control. It could save Darl McBride's life.
Typical left wing attack on libertarians. Anyone who consistently attacks encroachment on our freedoms by big government, big business and big labor is an extremist. Your only objection from what I can see is that the EFF would limit the IP laws and that might take a few pennies out of your income. Your objections to IP limitations are usually poorly veiled defenses of your personal economic interests and have no basis in principles recognizable as conservative or libertarian.
No, you insist that it is your right to profit. No one has a right to profit, only to try to make a profit. If someone can copy your ideas without paying you then obviously your business model is flawed. I have no problem with DRM as a non-protected technology. I have a problem with the government protecting DRM producers from people trying to crack it.
So how do you feel about the DMCA's restrictions on being able to hack your own DVD player and DVDs for your personal use? How about the old Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act which was shot down by Fritz Hollins' opponents? That law would have mandated DRM and such restrictions and outlawed the sale of non-DRM restricted hardware and software. If you disabled it on your own PC then you were guilty of a felony. So how about it Mr. Constitutional Conservative, do you think Congress has a legal and moral right and authority to pass that kind of IP law?
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