DeCSS: Jon Johansen Acquitted In Retrial

[tgpo]

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[hudsonf]

Great news!

[Gazorgan]

I copuldn't figure out how they tried him in the first place, much less the second. Besides, I actually bought the T-shirt with the code. It's not even that complex, which makes you wonder what line of BS was sold to the MPAA in the first place? Why didn't they sue out of existence the company that sold them CSS???

[MJPollard]

I copuldn't figure out how they tried him in the first place, much less the second. Besides, I actually bought the T-shirt with the code. It's not even that complex, which makes you wonder what line of BS was sold to the MPAA in the first place? Why didn't they sue out of existence the company that sold them CSS???

Well, remember, this is the MPAA, who had insisted for years that the VCR would bring about the death of Hollywood. "Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."

[Treebeard]

Yeah for jon

A toast for our hero DVD-jon

[hech54]

OK...question.
Is DeCSS in all of my ripping software somewhere in some form? I'm trying to relate what Jon Johansen "made - created - figured out" to me removing all of the annoying BULLSHITE like upcoming attractions from my most watched DVD's in my collection.

[tgpo]

If your DVD Ripping Software has the ability to break the encryption of a DVD, which 99% of them do, then you are using code that was written by DVD-Jon to do that.

[kpkilburn]

I copuldn't figure out how they tried him in the first place, much less the second.

At first I couldn't figure out how this guy could be tried a second time after he was aquitted, but then I realised that this didn't happen in the U.S. where there are laws to protect against "double jeopardy." It's hard to imagine that the prosecutor can also appeal the decision just like the defendant can.

[coyote]

It was part of the appeals process, not a "double jeopardy" situation. Like when a case makes it up to the supreme court in the united states.

A lower court made a ruling, the motion picture association appealed to a higher court, it was tried again.

[Gazorgan]

The key to DeCSS is the 400 'keys' that DVDPlayers work with. That's all there is. Cryptographically speaking, it's not that hard to do. Like breaking triple DES, it's simple to do but looooooong on CPU power.

As to whether DeCSS is in your software? Probably not. Is something very, very similiar? Definately. I mean if you have the source code (got the T-Shirt, litterally!!!!!!! ) then it's simple for a programmer to see the logic and adapt it. It was originally written in Linux, but it's so simple it ports with virtually no changes.

[kpkilburn]

It was part of the appeals process, not a "double jeopardy" situation. Like when a case makes it up to the supreme court in the united states.

A lower court made a ruling, the motion picture association appealed to a higher court, it was tried again.

I misunderstood. I thought it was the same court trying him again (and again and again if necessary) until they got a conviction. I don't know law that well (obviously ) but I thought that only the defendant took things up to the Supreme Court (i.e., you appeal a conviction). It still seems like double jeopardy if the prosecution can appeal a "not guilty" ruling. Am I confusing two different things?

(Am I getting too much off topic here?)

[hech54]

If your DVD Ripping Software has the ability to break the encryption of a DVD, which 99% of them do, then you are using code that was written by DVD-Jon to do that.

But isn't the fact that I have the ability to manipulate then eventually burn a DVD from a commercial DVD mean that the program (let's say DVDShrink) is using this guys findings?
I'm not trying to be a smarta$$....I guess I'm trying to imagine doing this stuff without stuff like DVDShrink and DVDDecrypter. Can you do this stuff by just by using Windows Explorer?....I have NO IDEA.

[coyote]

Without this become a law thread....really quickly.....either party can appeal a ruling. Once it has gone through the whole process...appeals (if any) and all....and the defendent is found innocent, then he can not be tried again.

[andkiich]

Last article i read on this is that they are trying to push this to the Supreme Court.

I didn't hear no fat lady!