[Nettime-bold] Fw: GILC Alert (fwd)

[David A Cox <dcox@netspace.net.au>]

: [3] Norway charges teen DVD programmer
: =======================================
: An 18 year old Norwegian is facing criminal charges over a controversial
DVD
: program that he wrote when he was 15.
:
: Back in 1999, Jon Johansen created DeCSS--a primitive computer program
that
: was meant to help users of the Linux operating system view DVDs on their
: machines. In January 2000, Norwegian authorities arrested him for these
: actions but let him go soon afterwards. However, he has been arrested
again
: on the theory that by creating DeCSS, he violated a Norwegian law against
: break-ins. Robin Gross from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF-a GILC
: member) called the prosecution of the boy "an incredible stretch. He was
: just trying to access his own property."
:
: The move comes after a United States Federal appeals court upheld a ruling
: against 2600 magazine that, among other things, bars the publication from
: even linking to other websites that contain DeCSS. 2600 magazine provided
: information about DeCSS information on its website, the Motion Picture
: Association of America (MPAA) sued the publication under the Digital
: Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Free speech advocates have savaged the
: decision; the magazine's publisher, Emmanuel Goldstein, stated that he
"will
: carefully consider whether to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court."
:
: Additional information on the Johansen case is available from the EFF
: website under
: http://www.eff.org/IP/DeCSS_prosecutions/Johansen_DeCSS_case/
:
: For more on protests in Norway over Johansen's arrest, see Eugene Brandal
: Laran, "'Vi vil se-DVD'," Dagbladet, Jan. 11, 2002 at
: http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2002/01/11/305694.html
:
: For German (Deutsch) language coverage, see Janko Rottgers, "Proteste
gegen
: Johansen-Anklage," Heise Telepolis, Jan. 15, 2002 at
: http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/te/11575/1.html
:
: For English language coverage of these events, read Michael Bartlett,
: "Norwegian Authorities Charge Teen DVD Software Author," Newsbytes, Jan.
10,
: 2002 at
: http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173567.html
:
: Read Lisa M. Bowman, "DVD cracker indicted for DeCSS program," ZDNet News,
: Jan. 11, 2002 at
: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5101559,00.html
:
: The appeals court ruling the 2600 case is posted at
: http://www.eff.org/Cases/MPAA_DVD_cases/20011128_ny_appeal_decision.html
:
: To read an EFF media release on the latest developments in the 2600 case,
: click
: http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/MPAA_DVD_cases/20020114_ny_eff_pr.html
:
: See Steven Bonisteel, "2600 Magazine Seeks Another Opinion In N.Y. DeCSS
: Case," Newsbytes, Jan. 14, 2002 at
: http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173635.html
:
: For legal commentary and background, read Chris Sprigman, "Lockware: The
: Promise And Peril of Hollywood's Intellectual Property Strategy For the
: Digital Age," Writ News, Jan. 3, 2002, at
: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20020103_sprigman.html
:
: For audio and text coverage of the 2600 decision, see "Website silenced
over
: DVD secrets," BBC News, Nov. 29, 2001 at
:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/new_media/newsid_1682000/1682
: 467.stm
:
: See Robert Lemos, "Free speech shrinking on the Net?" ZDNet News, Nov. 30,
: 2001 at
: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5100154,00.html
:
: See also Michael Bartlett, "DVD CCA Appeals Ruling to Calif. Supreme
Court,"
: Newsbytes, Nov. 30, 2001 at
: http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172602.html
:
: ===========================================
: [4] US plan would ease Net copyright rules
: ===========================================
: New legislation is in the works to reform a controversial United States
: copyright law.
:
: U.S. Representative Rick Boucher is drafting a bill to curtail various
: provisions within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). While the
: precise details of the plan have yet to be revealed, the legislation would
: alter section 1201 of the DMCA to allow individuals to circumvent copy
: protection schemes for legitimate purposes. He explained: "What do you say
: to the guy who only wants to use that code so the CD he bought will play
on
: his computer? That's harmless activity, yet under section 1201 he's guilty
: of a crime."
:
: The DMCA has been criticized as a severe restriction on Internet free
: speech. Section 1201, in particular, had previously been used to prosecute
: Russian computer scientist Dmitry Sklyarov after he presented a paper on
: electronic book encryption codes (see item [5] below). In addition,
several
: major entertainment conglomerates, such as Universal, are rolling out new
: copy-protected compact discs that often cannot be played on personal
: computers. While Boucher expects serious resistance to this proposal, he
: expressed optimism over several other copyright bills that he has
submitted,
: including a measure that would permit people to make archival copies of
: music that they have legally bought and downloaded.
:
: Read "Lawmaker: Legalize home CD burning," Reuters, Jan. 7, 2002 at
: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5101325,00.html
:
: See Brian Krebs, "Glacial Progress Expected On Digital Music Legislation,"
: Newsbytes, Jan. 7, 2002 at
: http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173450.html
:
: See also Patti Waldmeir, "Technology switches sides," Financial Times,
Jan.
: 9, 2002 at
:
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3TZO7H9WC&liv
: e=true
:
: For more on copy-protected CDs, see Brad King, "Online CD Sales May Suffer
: Static," Wired News, Jan. 9, 2002 at
: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,49539,00.html
:
: For commentary on Universal's new copy-protected CDs, read Rob Pegoraro,
: "Labels Have The Wrong Music Mission," Washington Post, Dec. 21, 2001 at
: http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173195.html
:
: See also John Borland, "Sites keep tabs on copy-protected CDs," ZDNet
News,
: Nov. 13, 2001 at
: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5099529,00.html
:
: ==================================================
: [5] Russian Ebook programmer goes home under deal
: ==================================================
: The United States government has allowed a Russian computer scientist to
: return to his home country under a special agreement.
:
: Dmitry Sklyarov had developed a program that circumvents the copy
protection
: scheme contained on Adobe Systems electronic books. He created the program
: while working for Elcomsoft as part of an effort to allow Ebook readers to
: view such products on whatever computers they like. After writing a paper
on
: the subject and presenting it to the public at a Las Vegas computer
: convention, United States government agents arrested him on charges of
: violating the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which
: restricts the right of computer users to circumvent any program that
: "effectively controls access" to copyrighted works. If convicted, he could
: have faced a 5 year prison sentence and a US $500 000 fine. In early
: December, U.S. prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against Sklyarov,
: allowing him to visit his home country in time to ring in the New Year.
: However, as part of this deal, he will have to testify against his former
: employer.
:
: Skylarov's case had drawn fierce protests from Internet users around the
: world who feared that his prosecution under the DMCA would threaten free
: expression, particularly in the scientific community. Shari Steele,
: Executive Director of Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF-a GILC member),
: noted that Sklyarov's conditioned release was in part due to the
"tremendous
: outpouring of grassroots support for Dmitry and against the current U.S.
: copyright law. ... I'm disappointed, however, that the government has
: decided to string this along instead of admitting its mistake in bringing
: these charges against Dmitry in the first place."
:
: Read "Russian programmer charged with violating copyright law in U.S.
: returns to Moscow," Interfax, Dec. 31, 2001 at
:
http://www.interfax.ru/one_news_en.html?lang=EN&tz=0&tz_format=MSK&id_news=5
: 550971
:
: An EFF media release regarding these developments is posted at
: http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/20011213_eff_pr.html
:
: See Carrie Kirby, "Charges dropped in copyright case: Russian programmer
to
: be set free," San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 14, 2001, page B1 at
: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/12/14/BU28360.DTL
:
: Read "Deal to free Russian programmer," BBC News Online, Dec. 14, 2001 at
: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1710000/1710676.stm
:
: For further information, visit
: http://www.freesklyarov.org/
:




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