http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAM2Y25BWC.html

OSLO, Norway (AP) - Prosecutors filed criminal charges Thursday
against a Norwegian teen-ager who drew Hollywood's anger by writing
and distributing a program that unlocks copy-protected DVDs.

After a two-year investigation, authorities indicted Jon Lech Johansen
in an important test of Norway's new computer crime laws.

Johansen's defenders call the prosecution a wrongheaded attack on
intellectual freedom. Creating software that breaks copy-protection
schemes, they argue, is not the same as using such programs to steal
copyright material.

Johansen, who was 15 when he authored the software, has said he did so
because only wanted to be able to play movies on his computer.

"Software that Jon wrote is something that is necessary for people to
be able to exercise their...rights with a DVD," said Robin Gross of
the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has provided Johansen's
legal defense.

Johansen, now 18 and a household name as DVD-Jon in Norway, became a
celebrity among computer hackers, who even marched to support him in
New York, where a related civil trial was held.

-- snip --



why not jail the companies who make guns??? :angry:

Why dont we just stop thinking altogether ? .... some already have but thats a different story.

Originally posted by kunal


why not jail the companies who make guns??? :angry:

well, i guess they like those little © (copyright) marks alot more than saving life - sad but its true

don't get me wrong, i support developers all the way but what kunal said is true, there is too much violence in this world and I'd rather see teens author their own programs rather then seeing them in the streets dealing/using drugs or having the need to buy a gun for protection - there are millions of kids that do drugs every day i see them walking free on the streets. I find that odd :eek:

Hmmm, my English paper, is going to get even more interesting...


BTW: My English paper is entirely on DMCA, and the stupid things it's being used for. My main focus is DeCSS. Perhaps, I'll make it a PDF for download when I get it done. Or, even send it to a few of my local congressmen.

send it over to me too...


the entire thing is a joke...

Originally posted by kunal
the entire thing is a joke...

In that case you wouldn't mind if someone wrote and distributed a script that hacked into your server and allowed free downloads and unlimited usage of phpSupportDesk?

Didn't think so.

Originally posted by CapnJacoby


In that case you wouldn't mind if someone wrote and distributed a script that hacked into your server and allowed free downloads and unlimited usage of phpSupportDesk?




What are you talking about IF, that script has been out for ages, everyone uses it!





hehe..;) ..j/k kunal


Jim

What if you would create your own DVDs and use that code to crack *your* DVDs, would that be a crime? No.

Um Kiwi... if I made my own DVD i wouldn't need to crack it...

Originally posted by CapnJacoby


In that case you wouldn't mind if someone wrote and distributed a script that hacked into your server and allowed free downloads and unlimited usage of phpSupportDesk?

Didn't think so.

You apparently have no idea what your talking about....


You buy a DVD, and you should have the right to do what ever you want to do with it, be it, used as a coaster, or crack the damn encryption on it for fun, as long as your not distro'ing it, you shouldn't be harrased....


Your talking about someone breaking into another system, and stealing a service/program, which is completely differnt, next time, think of a better analogy....

Something I've been thinking about for the past couple of days.

A movie is been screened on satellite TV and you tape it for viewing later. There is nothing wrong with that.

So, why can't you go and rent a video and tape it for a rainy day?

You can... -and you can xerox any copyrited book or magazine, and tape your own tapes, etc. Most of the issues are to prevent unlawful copying for the purpose of illegal distribution or showing, and unfortunately, this affects the home viewer who just wants to copy it for their own use.

Originally posted by The Prohacker
You apparently have no idea what your talking about....


Whoa, cowboy!

Please direct your attention to the first paragraph of the quoted material in the initial post. Note the phrase "writing and distributing". Think about it, dude.

If you feel you must defend criminal behavior, at least be civil about it. I accept your apology in advance.

The only ones that are affected by these issues are the law abiding folks like me :p


elijaH:)

CapnJacoby, if the code exists out there, and no one is using it, I dont have a problem... BUT if some one uses it for doing wrong, i have a problem with it! ONLY if used for the wrong, ONLY then will i take action... not otherwise...

This kid just wrote the code... nothing else... he did not tell you to go rip the DVD makers off... he did not tell you to break the rules, he did not tell you to break the moronic DMCA...

this is the same argument as napster... it just a tool, how the person uses the tool defines wether THAT person is right or wrong...

i just heard the news... a drunk driver killed a pedestrian... cool... lets go jail the alcohol company and the car maker.... he used the alcohol to get a high, and used the car to kill the pedestrian... lets all go and jail them... the same applies here right??

I read the article and I don't see what all the fuss is about.

You can buy DVD recorders nowadays anyway? They aren't been prosecuted are they?

Originally posted by DanielP
Um Kiwi... if I made my own DVD i wouldn't need to crack it...
Out of curiosity, you could For example to check how secure your encryption is.

btw: i meant , i support dvd-jon.


elijaH:)

Errr... this topic is really about some rather old news... This section of US copyright law has been "around" for some time now -- see:

http://www.bitlaw.com/source/17usc/1201.html

In other words, this wasn't some "new and radical" interpretation by one court judge, etc. The law was (and is) already "on the books"....

Well, if I read that article correctly, this kid was not indicted for writing the program, but rather for distributing it. It's like cracking the encryption for the Windows 2000 CD and allowing anyone to download it from your web site (which I'm sure has already been done). This kid was actually distributing the program that could get into all of the copy-protected DVDs, which is even more priceless to those who want free movies. It's called stealing and it's illegal.

from the news page. it says

Though Johansen has said he was trying to watch DVDs on a Linux-based computer, which did not already have DVD software like Windows and Macintosh systems, the program also permits reproduction of DVDs and their circulation over the Internet.

Such free distribution could cost the movie industry millions of dollars a year, it argues.

According to the indictment, more than 5,000 copies of the DeCSS program were downloaded from the Internet in the first three months after it was posted. It can still be found on the Internet.


well, what the kid did is wrong and it have resulted in millions loss to dvd companies. so, ithcally the kid is wrong, he should not have distributed the software on the internet. :o

making software for his/her own use and distributing it to other is something wrong. :(

anyway, codes and securities are made to broken. ;)

Errr... did no one read about this issue last summer when it was making (current) news..??? (Or, am I caught in a time warp here a WHT or what...?!?!) :D :confused:

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0%2C1412%2C44183%2C00.html

(Yawn...) But, years before that there was copy guard potection on video tapes and the yell went up about the so-called "constitutional right" of anyone to make a "good" copy of a VHS tape via a black box (that just happened to remove the copy guard...)...

Ah, the burning issues we face these days and times! (The more things change -- the more they remain the same...)

This all goes to show where the government places its priority, this is where lawmakers make their money, software companies have crap loads of money they dump into their campaigns so that the leeches can piss and moan and make stupid, unuseful laws....hell if he is going to go to jail for that he might as well steal a car on the way to the jail house...

Some things are written for a reason, specifically. Some things are generalized and have a few uses. It's not fair to compare this with someone that manufactures guns. If this kid was arrested, he likely was already distributing it, or planned to at least. This type of program only has one purpose. Unlike the comparison to a program/script to hack, it can be used to test security, etc. People can make bombs too, and they'll be arrested, even if they didn't plan to do anything with it -- for a reason. By law, you aren't supposed to be circumventing the lock feature, it's the law. He broke it, it's simple. If someone was to reverse engineer something that is against the law to do, they broke the law, they get arrested. It seems apparent to me, that if he was arrested, the authorities had to have found out by some means (I didn't read the article), so he must have been making this known, probably to sell (or give away). If people would buy things, rather than trying to steal them, or copies of them, no one would care about someone's "project", but I'm sure that he wasn't arrested for some example or project showcasing what he could do. Simply because he wasn't allowed the opportunity to distribute this tool, doesn't mean he didn't break the law by doing it. If you think it's a ridiculous reason, fine, but it's the law and he broke that law.

[Edit: Nevermind, I just read that he did slap it up for download. The little punk broke the law, he was arrested. What exactly is the issue here? Is everyone just pissed off for not being able to rip off DVD's or something? Is this a joke?]