For Immediate Release: July 7, 2000

EFF Appeals DVD Software Ban

Technology Groups Urge Overturn of Injunction

Contacts:

Katina Bishop - EFF Communications Manager
+1 415 436 9333 x101
katina@eff.org

Robin Gross - EFF Staff Attorney
+1 415 863 5459
robin@eff.org

San Francisco CA -- The Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) DVD defense team filed its final reply brief in its appeal of a California injunction barring publication of DeCSS software on dozens of Web sites.

The appeal to the California Sixth Appellate Court seeks to overturn the preliminary injunction issued on trade secret misappropriation grounds on January 20, 2000. EFF believes the lower court failed to properly weigh the First Amendment harm inherent in requiring the removal of speech from the Web.

"DVD-CCA has taken the extreme position that trade secrets are exempt from the First Amendment -- a claim with no legal basis," said David Greene, Executive Director and staff council to the First Amendment Project and a member of EFF's DVD defense team. "The court should lift the injunction and reject this attempt to chip away at California's strong protections for free speech on the internet."

DVD-CCA, the industry trade association representing the entertainment industry, argued that a clickwrap agreement protects DVD technology from reverse engineering, the common procedure by which developers dissect a product in order to determine how it works.

"DVD-CCA is attempting to limit the free speech rights of programmers and Internet users by putting restrictions on reverse engineering. This is completely unacceptable," said Shari Steele, EFF's executive director.

Several amicus curiae (friends of the court) briefs, urging the overturn of the software publication ban, were also filed by computer industry groups, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
( IEEE), the American Committee for Interoperable Systems ( ACIS) and the Computer & Communications Industry Association ( CCIA).

EFF's final reply brief is available at: http://www.eff.org/Intellectual_property/Video/DVDCCA_case/20000706_def_appeal_reply_brief.html
The IEEE Amicus Brief is available at: http://www.eff.org/Intellectual_property/Video/DVDCCA_case/20000705_def_ieee_appeal_amicus.html
The ACIS & CCIA Amicus Brief is available at: http://www.eff.org/Intellectual_property/Video/DVDCCA_case/20000628_def_ccia_appeal_amicus.html

Background

The movie industry initiated legal attacks against Web publishers in California, New York, Connecticut, and Norway over the DeCSS software code posted on their sites. EFF is defending the DVD cases as part of its Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression (CAFE). CAFE was launched last year to address complex social and legal issues raised by new technological measures for protecting intellectual property.

For complete information on EFF's DVD cases, see:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video

For more information on The First Amendment Project, see:
http://www.thefirstamendment.org

For more information concerning EFF's Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression, see:
http://www.eff.org/cafe

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org) is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression, privacy, and openness in the information society. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to Web sites in the world.

The First Amendment Project (www.thefirstamendment.org) is a nonprofit, public interest law firm and advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition. FAP provides advice, educational materials, and legal representation to its core constituency of activists, journalists, and artists in service of these fundamental liberties.

Please send any questions or comments to webmaster@eff.org.