See related files:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video (EFF Archive)
http://jya.com/cryptout.htm#DVD-DeCSS (Cryptome Archive)
http://www.2600.com/dvd/docs (2600 Archive)
http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/dvd/ (Harvard DVD OpenLaw Project)
EFF DVD Update: July 20, 2000
Universal City Studios v. 2600 Magazine
EFF Fights Movie Studios' Attempt to Monopolize DVD Players
Johansen Shines on Witness Stand in Defense of his Software
Jon Johansen, the Norwegian teen-ager who created DeCSS, the software at the heart of this case, took the witness stand Thursday morning to testify for the defense. Johansen explained that he was attempting to build a DVD player for Linux when he and two other members of the group MoRE developed the code. He also explained that DeCSS was written as a Windows executable file because the project had to be tested first on Windows since Linux could not read a DVDs UDF files. This testimony blew a huge hole in both the movie studios' and the judge's reasoning who assumed that because the code was written for Windows it had nothing to do with developing a Linux DVD player, as EFF's defense team has claimed for months.
The courageous teen also revealed that the MPAA filed charges against Jon and his father Per, instigating the Norwegian Economic Crime Unit to ask Jon to answer questions at the police station in January 2000. His testimony revealed a flaw in the judge's thinking, who has previously stated in several opinions that the teen was arrested and has inferred guilt therefrom. Not only was Johansen never arrested for developing the software. He received an award, a national student award which is awarded to students who are in high school and have achieved excellent grades and also has also achieved things outside of school in culture, sports, art
In stark contrast to the veracity and integrity Johansen displayed on the witness stand in the face of a powerful industry trying to crush him, the head of the MPAA's world-wide anti-piracy effort Mikhail Reider testified next. The MPAA investigator who was previously an intelligence officer for the DEA and FBI gave testimony replete with "I can't recall", "I don't know", and "I can't remember" to the most basic questions involving the MPAA's investigative efforts in this case, reminiscent of the Jack Valenti deposition. The credibility and truthfulness of this witness was called into further doubt when shown and asked about internal MPAA reports sent to her that contradicted her testimony and were obtained by EFF's defense team through discovery battles. At the conclusion of Reider's testimony, the Plaintiff's rested their case.
EFF's defense team called Edward Felton to the witness stand who is an expert on technology and testified for the Department of Justice in its case against Microsoft. Felton, who likened "hacking" to "tinkering" explained that the public is ultimately served by the disclosure of information learned from publishing the results of encryption research and security testing. He also testified to the expressive nature of object code and that he can read it and encourages his students to read and write it as part of their education. "In addition to executing it, you can learn a lot from it," stated one of the world's most highly respected computer experts.
Journalist and publisher of 2600 Magazine Eric Corley, who is more commonly known by his pen name, Emmanuel Goldstein took the stand in his own defense at the late afternoon and will return first thing Thursday morning at 9:00. Goldstein explained many of the important contributions to computer security, technology innovation, and the protection of privacy that his magazine was responsible for since its creation in 1984. He also described his extensive journalistic background which includes having been published in the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal among countless others and testifying before Congress on technology issues.
Judge Kaplan provided some sense of his thinking saying that Web publisher 2600.com had a reasonably strong case that the issuance a permanent injunction against it was a futile act due to the mass proliferation of the software. Fond of analogies, the judge stated the defense had a reasonably strong case for the proposition that the barn is unlocked and this horse is out. (See pulled quote from transcript below).
In response to questions regarding the movie studios' right to control who can make DVD players, the judge gave some indication that he believed the DMCA may over-rule antitrust law in the U.S., something to be found no where in the legislative history of the statute.
Thursday morning, Emmanuel Goldstein will complete his testimony with the cross examination of him by Proskaur lawyer Leon Gold. EFF's defense team also expects to call Matt Pavlovich, a developer of open source DVD player tools and Professor Peterson of Princeton University's Computer Science department to the stand.
From trial transcript of July 20, 2000, Pages 670-1
17 Now, it seems to me also that what the MPAA wants is
18 a legal determination that unlocking this barn was illegal,
19 and so the next guy who considers unlocking another barn is
20 going to have something serious to think about. I suspect you
21 are also asking me to issue an injunction against the guy who
22 unlocked this barn not to unlock it again even though there is
23 no horse in it. So, you know, I don't know that this witness
24 has any light to shed on that subject.
Page 674:
6 courts have said for 300 years, at least that courts of
7 equity ought not to use the equitable power of injunction to
8 try to accomplish the impossible or to perform something which
9 is entirely futile, and therefore, in the exercise of
10 discretion, given the broad prevalence of this particular
11 utility, this time the court declines to issue the injunction
12 because it would do no practical good.
Transcript of today's hearing:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/MPAA_DVD_cases/20000720_ny_trial_transcript.html
An index of the DVD updates can be found at:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/dvd_updates_archive.html
You can subscribe to EFF's mailing list to receive the regular DVD updates. To subscribe, email majordomo@eff.org and put this in the text: subscribe cafe-news
EFF's archive of MPAA v 2600 litigation: http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/MPAA_DVD_cases/
RELATED COVERAGE:
Norwegian Teenager Appears at Hacker Trial He Sparked
By Carl Kaplan, NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/cyber/cyberlaw/21law.html
(This is one of the best articles yet written about this case).
DVD-Hacker Trial Judge Says Horsefeathers to Movie Studios' Injunction Demands
By Greg Lindsay, Inside.com
http://www.inside.com/story/Story_Cached/0,2770,7070_7,00.html
