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DVD-Jon Kicks MPAA's Ass!
For those non-geek types out there, Jon Johansen is a Norwegan teenager who back in 1998 scripted some code (commonly known in the cyberrealms as DeCSS), which allows anyone to play a DVD on any computer regardless of what operating system it uses. At the time, Jon intended the program to allow him to play DVD's he had purchased on his home PC, which used the Linux (pronounced LIN-ux) operating system, an open-source OS developed as an alternative to Windows and Mac. The Motion Picture Association of America went ballistic, filing a complaint with the Norwegan Economic Police (!) who promptly raided Jon's parents' home, confiscated all his gear and charged him with software piracy under the Digital Millenium Copywright Act, a piece of U.S. legislation which is designed to prevent anyone from reverse-engineering digital encryption software, which might later be used to create pirated copies of CD's or DVD's.
The significance of this ruling cannot be underestimated. Up until the past few years consumers have always had a certain amount of control over the content of material they purchased legally. For example, if you bought a record, you could later tape it for personal use under standard copywright "fair use" doctrines. Media industry trade associations like the MPAA or the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sought the DCMA as a means of preventing consumers from engaging in these types of practices, by shoving all non-industry forms of recording for personal use under the rubrick of "potential piracy". Congress in enacting the DCMA essentially rolled over on the huge piles of money the industry threw at them, essentially making it illegal for anyone to do anything with a piece of digitally-produced media that the industry didn't approve of, and more importantly, wasn't compensated for. In short, just because you purchased a CD or DVD, under the DCMA you don't actually own what's on it, you only own the piece of plastic upon which it is imprinted, and have no right to use it in a way not approved of by the creator of the content.
This ruling is a MAJOR victory for the little guy (although there's no indication at this point whether prosecutors will appeal the unanimous ruling), and a big setback for Big Media.
Now get out there and keep burning those mixes kids!
Posted byCOMTE
on 8:54 AM
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