AfterDawn: News

DVD-CCA vs. Bunner goes to California Supreme Court

Out of the many so-called DeCSS court cases going on at the moment, one of the oldest ones is now heading to California Supreme Court. The case between DVD-CCA (association that licenses CSS encryption mechanism to DVD manufacturers) and California resident Andrew Bunner relates to the fact that Bunner distributed DeCSS code on his website.

DVD-CCA sued hundreds of people in late 1999, including Mr. Bunner, for disclosing "trade secrets". Among those who were sued originally, were guys who printed DeCSS code on T-shirts, caps, etc. Earlier this year, U.S. Supreme Court upheld California Supreme Court's decision that one of the other people sued by DVD-CCA, Matthew Pavlovich, can't be sued in California because he is actually a Texas resident.



In Mr. Bunner's case, lower court granted a preliminary injunction that prevented him from distributing the code. However, appeals court held this decision and now the case is headed to California Supreme Court. The court date is set to tomorrow, 29th of May.

Source: EFF

Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 28 May 2003 14:32

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• 3 comments

• awesomejt

  Ok these people suck. It's time to take action and protect our rights once and for all.
  
  Look at OpenLaw's information regarding DeCSS, MPAA, and DVD:
  http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/DVD/
  
  Folks need to realize this is much more than wanting to make a backup copy of The Matrix -- it's about Freedom of Speech. What price is the MPAA and DVD-CCA willing to put on our freedoms just so they can swindle more cash from us. Our troops didn't give their lives for the cause of this country (USA) and ideals of freedom for the past 227 years just for a few corporations to rape it from us in legal actions.
  

  My signature sucks.

  29.5.2003 05:32 #1

• Actuator

  If you figure out how to decrypt a dvd's encryption then you dicovered how to do that and it is your right to have that knowledge, you didnt steal it from the company , you dicovered it!
  
  trade secrets violations should be if you break into a company and steal some documents or get told be a former employee or something like that, if you discover something it should be yours

  30.5.2003 08:12 #2

• ookami

  Corporations will be the death of freedom in the US. Soon, we'll all want to live in Mexico or Canada.
  

  _______________________
  Ookami-san

  1.6.2003 17:16 #3