Journalists Intervene on MPAA's Attempt to Block Public Access to DVD
DVD Update: June 1, 2000
Trial
Two more journalists today submitted papers asking the court to reject
the MPAA's proposed secrecy order that would bar public access to the legal
process of one of the first cases brought under the
controversial new Digital Millennium Copyright Act. E-Commerce
Law Weekly Senior Legal Editor Mike Godwin and Wired News
Correspondent
Declan McCullagh filed a motion opposing the MPAA's request to ban the
press from attending depositions and reviewing transcripts or discovery
documents. Both journalists have regularly reported on the litigation over
DeCSS and informed the court of the great public interest surrounding the
First Amendment and fair use issues in the case.
The New York Observer and the Village Voice have also informed Judge Lewis Kaplan of their desire to witness key depositions. Judge Kaplan has asked that any parties requesting to allow public access to the proceedings submit a statement to him no later than June 2, 2000.
John Young's sample statement can be found
at:
http://cryptome.org/mpaa-v-2600-cs.htm
Mike Godwin and Declan McCullagh's brief can be found
at:
http://cryptome.org/mpaa-v-2600-gmo.htm
MPAA Secrecy Request Arguments:
http://cryptome.org/mpaa-v-2600-poa.htm
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Openlaw/DVD Forum Files Friend of Court Brief to Lift Ban on Speech
On May 30, Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society
filed an Amicus Curaie brief asking the court to lift the injunction
against
2600 Magazine from posting the computer code DeCSS
on its Web site. Citing the First Amendment, it also requested
the court reject the movie studios' attempt to expand the ban to include
links to other Web sites. "As authors, developers, and users of the
World Wide Web, and as students, teachers, and researchers, we write
to address the threat to online speech that the proposed injunction against
hyperlinking would pose," wrote Margaret Smith in the brief
signed-on to by six law professors.
Judge Lewis Kaplan is expected to rule on the movie studios' request to ban linking and 2600 Magazine's request to lift the injunction in late June. The studio's responsive papers are due June 3rd and the media defendant's reply brief will be due June 12th. Additional amici submissions are encouraged in the case set for trial on July 17th in federal district court in NY.
Openlaw/DVD Forum Amicus Brief can be found
at:
http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/DVD/filings/NY/0530-openlaw-amicus.html
Amicus Brief of Harvard Law Professor Charlie
Nesson:
http://www.eff.org/pub/IP/MPAA_DVD_cases/20000510-nesson-amicus.html
Affidavit of New York Times:
http://cryptome.org/mpaa-v-2600-rm.htm
EFF's DVD Archives:
http://www.eff.org/pub/IP/MPAA_DVD_cases/
http://www.eff.org/pub/IP/DVD/
EFF Update - Universal City Studios, et al, v. Reimerdes, et al:
