INFO/NYT: Legal Test of DeCSS Software and Right to Link to Websites

        REGARDING A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WITH LINK AND EXCERPT BELOW:      Eight movie studios backed by The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) are suing to remove linking to sites that have DVD versions of films online. The links are pared with availability of DeCSS Software on the site of the linker that enables, according to MPAA, unauthorized viewing and piracy of motion pictures by bypassing the security system on these DVD videos. The defense attorneys argue that the software enables film viewing on computers that are run on the Linux operating system. Martin Garbus, a first amendment specialist, will be working on the defense side on this case.

     There are a useful set of links regarding intellectual property and other technology related law on the Educational Cyberplayground website at this URL:

     THE LAW
     http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Technology/THE_LAW.html

Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204-4584

jwne[_at_]astro.temple.edu

Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: CARL S. KAPLAN
Title: First Amendment Lawyer Takes on Movie Studios in DVD Case Source Date: April 28, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: DVD, Video Recordings, Internet/WWW, Linking, Downloading, DeCSS Software, Lawsuit, The Motion Picture Association of America, First Amendment, Legal Representation, Legal Issues, Encryption, Intellectual Property Law
URL: Listed Below Article Summary
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April 28, 2000

    By CARL S. KAPLAN
    First Amendment Lawyer Takes on Movie Studios in DVD Case

    Eight major movie studios are asking a federal judge to order a Web publisher to stop linking to hundreds of sites carrying a piece of software that they say threatens their industry.

    Martin Garbus is determined to stop them.

    Garbus, a well-known New York trial lawyer and First Amendment specialist, was brought on board recently to assist the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a cyber-liberties group, and a small group of volunteer lawyers in their efforts to wage an important legal battle. In essence, the case tests the ability of movie studios and other content providers to use a new federal law to restrict access to their digital wares.

Web Sites Related to This Article:

2600: The Hacker Quarterly
http://www.2600.com/

2600's catalog of DeCSS mirror sites
http://www.2600.com/news/1999/1227-help.html

Motion Picture Association of America
http://nt.scbbs.com/mpaa/mpaa.htm

Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org/

Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiff's Motion to Modify the Order of Preliminary Injunction, from 2600's site http://www.2600.com/news/2000/0406-motions/motions.html#Memo

Judge Kaplan's memorandum opinion granting a preliminary injunction, dated February 2, 2000, from EFF's site http://www.eff.org/ip/Video/MPAA_DVD_cases/20000202_ny_memorandum_order.html

Check My Articles on Database Searching
http://www.Edu-CyberPG.com/
Click on Ringleaders and Then Reference

Diversity University Collaboratory Mailing List (DUC) http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/diversity.html

Full Story May Be Read At:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/cyber/cyberlaw/28law.html Received on Fri Apr 28 2000 - 10:53:42 GMT