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DeCSS - 11/30/04 The focus of this article is the circumvention of CSS (Content Scramble System) and the consequences of protecting it. Scott Bradner begins his discussion with the DVD Copy Control Associationıs request to drop its case against Andrew Bunner and many others who have posted copies of DeCSS on the Internet since1999. The DVD Copy Control Association had sued on the condition that CSS is a trade secret. Bradner follows with ³The algorithms and keys had been revealed when the not-all-that-good encryption used on DVDs was cracked by a Norwegian teenager.² Once the Norwegian teenager, 15 year old Jon Johansen, cracked the code, his program, DeCSS, became widely attainable over the Internet, in addition to the popular t-shirt produced by two MIT students, which had the code printed on it. Bradner expresses that ³Itıs far from clear to me how something so widely known still could be considered a secret². He follows this statement in a befuddled tone with an example outside of the programming realm, ³letıs say that the algorithms and keys ceased to be trade secrets when they were so widely published. What does that mean for other trade secrets like the formula for Coca-Cola? Would that mean someone who breaks into a Coca-Cola computer and steals the formula would escape prosecution if he posted the formula That would certainly play into the hands of an extortionist because if he does the thing Coke fears the worst, he could not be prosecuted.² I think this is a poor analogy. First, it is a hobby of many to tinker and figure things out using their highly technical brains, and such hobbies work for the advancement of technology. And advance public knowledge? Secondly, should expressions of knowledge, in this case written down as computer code which is readable and understandable by people, when not used for illegal purposes, be illegal? And finally, I find the instance of DeCSS more comparable to E=MC2 than the Coca-Cola formula; Johansen was the discoverer of facts and knowledge, not the inventor. Can an algorithm be considered a trade secret? The DMCA (The Digital Millennium Copyright Act) prohibits the circumvention of copy protection schemes and the distribution of devices used for that purpose. Johansen supports open code, the same notion that the Linux operating system is based on. When Johansen wrote DeCSS in 1999 and posted it on the Internet, no DVD player without CSS existed; this hindered the ability to watch DVDs on a computer running the Linux operating system. That was the motive for Johansen to create DeCSS. In Johansenıs case, the court found that copying a DVD for personal use is not illegal and that Johansen did not have criminal motives. It was the fair use clauses in the copyright act that led to Johansenıs acquittal. DeCSS has been a considered a huge problem for the DVD industry, but I wonder how seriously CSS is being taken when I can find a list on the Internet of popular movies on DVD that are not encrypted with CSS. The way to legally decrypt CSS and watch a DVD is through licensed software that manufacturers must purchase and install, for an annual fee. This makes DVD manufacturers virtually incapable of making a DVD player without the software, and requires them to pay annual fees for the use of that licensed software in order for their products to legally play DVDs. Does that make it illegal to build your own DVD player? Bradner brings to light a proposal by William Fisher, director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, ³that would change the basic concept of paying for the use of copyrighted material tax blank DVDs and some types of computer equipment and distribute the tax money to copyright owners based on the use of their material.² Bradner does not go on to explain how exactly that concept would work. Would everyone who purchases such equipment be taxed whether legally copying DVDs for personal use, illegal copying for retail, or even the least worthy of such a tax, the people who wonıt be copying DVDs whatsoever? The problem doesnıt end here. The Internet itself allows the potential to download DVDs. Also, DVDs can be copied with the inclusion of CSS. DeCSS is not the only means of copying DVDs, it only allows DVD playback on unlicensed players. Someone running Linux may have purchased a DVD legally to play on their Linux operating system. It is impossible to know how acquired material is obtained. Going after DeCSS users seems to be the wrong way to go about copyright infringement. The ability and knowledge to decrypt code exists and always will. It seems inconceivable and frightening for the government to create a legal environment that tries to limit such knowledge, especially for the profit of a particular industry. I consider DeCSS free speech, not a case of infringement for the DMCA, which would hinder fair use rights. CSS is about licensing and getting a revenue stream from DVD player manufacturers and has nothing to do with copy prevention. The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) (and the Recording Industry Association of America) want full control over what you see/hear, when you see it and how you see it. CSS and other "copy control" technologies (like the broadcast flag) are steps to erode fair use rights, to get away from you owning movies, but rather that you "license the content" (like computer software). Bradner states that the DVD Control Association ³ was just changing tactics² when it dropped charges, and that ³dropping the case left a number of issues unresolved, but I expect that it wonıt be long before there are other opportunities to readdress them.² He shares the government tax on DVD products as a possible next attempt ³but Iım not going to hold my breath for it to happen in the US. The idea gores too many oxen.² However, this measure has started to take place in a number of countries already. References Andersen, Thomas (July 2004). The Norwegian DeCSS litigation a DVD piracy trial, Business Law Review. v25 i7 p187. Bradner, Scott (February 2, 2004). Is letting go the right way? Network World. p24. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the dailyness of life (excerpts from the blog i once had...) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" Subject : hi Date : Fri, 16 May 2003 21:40:34 +0200 ahoj! it's not just for pirates.. went to salzburg (salt castle) last weekend, a decision i made in the morning when i woke up - that's cool. lots of beautiful and interesting things in and around the city. i went to a whacko caslte on sunday that had a really amazing garden full of trick fountains. you find yourself looking at some beautiful statue for a second or a deer head on the wall and the next thing you know your soaked by water suddenly squirting out of it's middle aged nostrils, strange and expensive sense of humor. and the castle (hellbrunn) that went along with that garden was stuffed with rarities of the time, like sunflowers and storks. it was both funny to see things that are now totally common and neat to see the rest. saturday i went to ice caves at the top of an alp, i especially enjoyed taking the gondola up the mountain and hiking to the top. what a site those there alps. all that and a bunch of bars (pubs), including the augustiner brauhaus where the monks make the beer, and there is a beer warmer in the hall for the fussy folks. i really like salzburg and that has nothing to do with the sound of music which everyone was singing the tunes to on the bus to the ice caves, and seems to be the cities biggest attraction, unbelievably unavoidable. went for a great bike ride with some locals on may day through the countryside. i saw a traditional parade from communist times turned mock-parade celebrating labor, which is basically agricultural here. tractors full of drunk czechs dressed up in russian uniforms and flags singing old russian songs with slightly new lyrics ; ) went to karlovy vary and loket in the north west of the czech republic one weekend. and can't stop going to prague, i think it is the most mouth gaping, breath taking city i've seen yet, the city looks like a wedding cake. i've also stopped in a couple more times at cesky krumlov, the very beautiful unesco town on an the Vltava only 10 miles or so from me. future plans are a bit vague at the moment but i'm going to london next weekend. and heading back to massachusetts august 01 til the mid-to-end of the month for bacherlette fun etc as one of my best friends is getting married, finally! there are more pictures now. salzburg won't make it up until i dump the next batch off the camera. take care, hope to hear what you all are up to. see ya, x o x o k -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" Subject : what the Date : Mon, 17 Mar 2003 14:30:30 +0100 okay, so i'm in the tub taking one of my marathon-reading-theres-nothing-to-do-in-this-town-baths and i'm listening to the bbc, when all of a sudden they're talking about and playing the san francisco band Numbers followed by a kid606 remix of the same song. right when i think the world /IS/ large and i'm in the middle of fucking nowhere. awesome. looking forward to being a linz-->munich groupie next week. have a green saint patricks day!! i'm sure it will be an easy task for me to find beer and cabbage tonight. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" Subject : photos Date : Fri, 07 Mar 2003 11:23:11 +0100 this took a friggin' long time, so enjoy 'em okay, in this land of "pilsner & pork" and "many mini skirts", there are magical spires and castles aplenty.. http://mayhem.pocketsoap.com/kelley/pix/index.php -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" 2/25/2003 hi all it is starting to warm up a bit here, or maybe i am just warming up to it. but actually the temperature has risen to a whopping zero degrees (celsius) these days. i just asked about which number on the building is the actual street address of my apartment. here goes: èeské budìjovice èeská republika packages might be more safely sent to, or received rather, at the school. not sure. and my telephone/mobile number is: (420)777XXXXXX. i have a celly. here known as a mobile (proper) or handy (slang), and sms text messages are like totally thee biggest thing. cesky krumlov is amazing. and amazingly cold last sunday. it was nice to see the town in the snow, and now i know i need to go back sometime when it's not covered so to see the colors. i know i saw some medieval day glow pink showing through there. serious. the structure of the town is like none other, it's a tiny hilly area on an S curve of the vltava river. i hope to put pictures up somewheres in cyberspace soon but for now this will have to suffice: http://www.kanu.pl/journal/weltawa/krumlov.jpg yes, here in czech, since 1989, there have been many imported artificial american holidays, including valentine's day, all still very becoming, which puts me right at the forefront. so why did i eat dinner alone? there are lots of new things to try: becherovka - a herbal spirit from karlovy vary (a beautiful northern town consisting of rich russian mafia, where there are 12 famous pure water springs, and becherovka is known as the 13th) fernet stock - the other of the two most popular czech spirits, kind of like italian ameretto, kinda just yucky, aaack mulled wine - like grape cider, to us apple cider drinkers, but hard and it comes with flavored sugar and fruit, double aaaaack slivovice - another, stronger, stronger, and even stronger, spirit, this one is from the moravian region (the wild east), i have yet to try it and think it's more than occasionally a DIY moonshine. i need time to brace myself. and of course, absinthe - i know all you artistes already know what an intoxicatingly magical drink this is, legal in only some countries. but i think it's more dangerously attractive than attractively dangerous these days. the czech's are very proud of their beer and spirits, and certainly manifest it through their drinking abilities. i have been told that american budweiser is for 'washing the hands'. off to the pub for now... kelley oh yeah, and the dumplings, and the pork, and the red cabbage, pickled cabbage, sweet cabbage, green cabbage, you named it! -CABBAGE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" Subject : day 04, ceske budejovice, czech republic Date : Wed, 12 Feb 2003 04:58:20 -0500 things are ummm, swell, here in the land of service without a smile and cabbage. i am catching on to their microcomical systems, slowly. not much knowledge of the anglicky here, ah-hem... where i come in. classes are good, this school seems to have all the fluent english speakers in the czech republic though. i've never taught such advanced students, so we (they) read articles out loud and we go over pronunciation, difficult vocabulary, double meanings, and multiple meanings. then we just, how does say, shoot shits, or talk about the article, basically practice conversation. it's okay. they know the grammar already, certainly better than i, so me am safe. czech cuisine is to die for, i mean, from. really great if you like fried fat, not exactly sure what that is yet, and plan to never, ever, find out. really, they eat hearty meals of fried meat, fried cheese, instant coffee, and no vegetables. but it's true, beer is cheaper than water here. there is one indian restaurant and i am already pals with the entire staff, my next plan is to barter food for proof reading their menu, because their food is so specials to my stomach, and i like to cook but not all the time. i am going to start looking for an old and colorful cobblestone street apartment later today. (attached is a picture of the town square). and for this sunday, i was invited by a student to visit the neighboring town with her and her sister, the world gem, according to the uncesco list of world monuments even, ceske krumlov. ok, enough for now, eastern europe, yada yada. (but don't tell them eastern europe, it's central europe, or better yet, the heart of europe). take care, miss you all, kelley. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" 1/7/2003 a thousand lighted bulbs and a little help from midol and just like this time last year, it will be a happy new year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: xxxxx@xxxcom.co.nz To: xx@xxxx.demon.co.uk Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2002, 11:53:57 AM Subject: site ===8<==============Original message text=============== Hi Simon, I think that your products are *great* especially proxytrace which is invaluable, but I have to say that the new format of your web site is a bit over the top - very hard on the eyes and difficult read - the white on black really makes for a negative experience! Please don't take this personally, but I much prefer a more benign format David ===8<===========End of original message text=========== You are right, pocketsoap is full of *great* and invaluable products, it is not devoid of useful information. And Simon does not intend to impress anyone with his site design, just look at his targeted public. And don't overlook 'Front End' in web design, could it even be possible to get a more consistent look and feel across the site? My question to you, how did you like the colors of the site as a whole? True, it is not as creative as the 1960's psychedelia look, but if we're going to get down to the nitty gritty then there are loads of horrendous designs out there, have you seen Detroit? Admit it, many 'Web Designers' make their livings designing awful sites, at least Simon is a programmer and is 'pretty good' with computers. I don't intend to minimize the importance of layout and design, I just think you are a bit harsh and should maybe consider downgrading your opinions. I expect you were a little surprised and probably a little worried too at first, but all the same practical information and knowledge is still there, so hold on to your hat. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" 12/6/2002 you stink! oh, ooops, not you. but i like in public, how do you call, it turns me? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" 12/6/2002 'tis the season of shoplifting, hope you like your present 'cause you can't take it back. okay, wrong wrong wrong! commodity excess, tend, trend, jingles and junk. my christmas list always includes the make, model, color, and size of each gift I want. add to cart: two front teeth, a silent night, a job, a back rub, dinner and a movie. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : "kelley trahan" 12/3/2002 'tis the seas thanksgiving in death valley. celebrating the victory of the land, defeat and destruction. take your turkey and stuff it. 1416 miles, 5 days, countless radio stations and suspect coffees... and photos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |