February 11, 2009 9:19 PM
Free Speech, Or Free Ride?
In a resounding victory for Hollywood's major studios, a New York federal appeals court upheld a ruling against a man who posted on his Web site a program that let users decrypt and copy DVDs.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled unanimously Wednesday in favor of nine major Hollywood studios that sought to force Eric Corley, operator of the 2600 Magazine Web site, to remove links to the DVD decryption program.
Corley's attorneys had argued at trial that publishing the program, called DeCSS, was protected as free speech and their client was merely covering the news value of the technological development by posting the code.
But Hollywood studios, looking to protect their coveted content, disagreed. A lower court found the harm to Hollywood outweighed the free speech protections and the appeals court agreed.
"It's really a terrific victory for content providers who want to put out technology to protect content in digital format," said Charles Rose, an attorney representing the major movie studios.
The case was the biggest challenge yet to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, signed into law by former President Clinton and making it illegal to circumvent anti-piracy measures built into commercial software or to distribute such unauthorized tools.
It was a widely watched trial where supporters of Corley came to court wearing T-shirts with the short DeCSS program printed on them, an example of publishing the underlying code as free speech they claimed.
DeCSS was the name given to decrypted Content Scramble System, or CSS. The CSS is an encryption scheme included on widely distributed DVD movies to prevent unauthorized duplication. The DeCSS program easily unveils the DVD's raw video files and allows unlimited digital copying and distribution of the valuable movie content.
Cindy Cohn, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, helped represent Corley in the case. She said she had not seen the appeals court ruling, but was disappointed upon learning of the outcome.
"I think it's a setback for free speech. It appears that the court is upholding censorship of the magazine online," Cohn said.
"The point is (DeCSS) is expression and if you think that by quashing this program you're not quashing speech, you don't understand what computer programmers do," Cohn said.
Limiting the publications of such programs would create a chilling effect on reporters covering the issue, Cohn said, as well as those seeking access to DVD video footage as part of the fair use provision of federal copyright law.
Cohn said she would go over the appeals court ruling before deciding with other defense attorneys on whether to further appeal the case.
By Ron Harris © MMI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled unanimously Wednesday in favor of nine major Hollywood studios that sought to force Eric Corley, operator of the 2600 Magazine Web site, to remove links to the DVD decryption program.
Corley's attorneys had argued at trial that publishing the program, called DeCSS, was protected as free speech and their client was merely covering the news value of the technological development by posting the code.
But Hollywood studios, looking to protect their coveted content, disagreed. A lower court found the harm to Hollywood outweighed the free speech protections and the appeals court agreed.
"It's really a terrific victory for content providers who want to put out technology to protect content in digital format," said Charles Rose, an attorney representing the major movie studios.
The case was the biggest challenge yet to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, signed into law by former President Clinton and making it illegal to circumvent anti-piracy measures built into commercial software or to distribute such unauthorized tools.
It was a widely watched trial where supporters of Corley came to court wearing T-shirts with the short DeCSS program printed on them, an example of publishing the underlying code as free speech they claimed.
DeCSS was the name given to decrypted Content Scramble System, or CSS. The CSS is an encryption scheme included on widely distributed DVD movies to prevent unauthorized duplication. The DeCSS program easily unveils the DVD's raw video files and allows unlimited digital copying and distribution of the valuable movie content.
Cindy Cohn, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, helped represent Corley in the case. She said she had not seen the appeals court ruling, but was disappointed upon learning of the outcome.
"I think it's a setback for free speech. It appears that the court is upholding censorship of the magazine online," Cohn said.
"The point is (DeCSS) is expression and if you think that by quashing this program you're not quashing speech, you don't understand what computer programmers do," Cohn said.
Limiting the publications of such programs would create a chilling effect on reporters covering the issue, Cohn said, as well as those seeking access to DVD video footage as part of the fair use provision of federal copyright law.
Cohn said she would go over the appeals court ruling before deciding with other defense attorneys on whether to further appeal the case.
By Ron Harris © MMI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
