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For Immediate Release: Friday, December 6, 2002Hollywood Gets Norway to Try Jon Johansen Three Years LaterTeenager Prosecuted for Watching His DVDs on Linux ComputerElectronic Frontier Foundation Media AdvisoryOslo, Norway - The criminal trial against Jon Johansen, a Norwegian teenager who watched his DVDs on his Linux computer using a DVD descrambling program called DeCSS, will start in Norway this Monday, December 9. The trial is scheduled to last until Friday, December 13. After a request from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Norwegian Economic Crime Unit (ØKOKRIM) charged Jon Johansen for unscrambling DVDs using DeCSS in 1999 when he was 15 years old. Johansen is charged with violating the Norwegian Criminal Code section 145(2), which outlaws breaking into another person's locked property to gain access to data that one is not entitled to access. Johansen's prosecution marks the first time the Norwegian government has attempted to punish individuals for accessing their own property. Previously, the government used this law only to prosecute those who violated someone else's secure system, like a bank or telephone company system, in order to obtain another person's records. "Jon owned the DVDs and he's never been accused of copyright infringement or assisting in copyright infringement," noted EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Instead, he's facing criminal charges for taking the necessary steps to view his own DVDs on his own computers." EFF assisted Jon in locating Norwegian counsel and setting up a defense fund. Johansen's indictment came more than two years after the MPAA initially contacted ØKOKRIM prosecutors to request a criminal investigation of the Norwegian teen and his father, Per Johansen, who owned the equipment on which the DeCSS software was stored. The charges against Johansen's father were later dropped. Representing Jon Johansen in this case is Halvor Manshaus from the lawfirm Schjødt in Norway. Links:
For this advisory:
More on the Johansen case:
Free Jon email list:
Information on related DVD CCA cases: About EFF:The Electronic Frontier Foundation 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 and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/ Contact:Halvor ManshausCindy Cohn
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