A Norwegian Court ruled that the teenager that created the DeCSS program that decrypts DVDs so that they can be played on computers running Linux was not committing piracy, contrary to the claims of the US movie industry. Read more in reports from the BCC and the AP (via Wired).
It’s nice to see some common sense rule the day in Norway, though I understand that the prosecution can appeal this verdict. I know nothing about Norwegian law, but if this were a similar criminal trial in the US, the prosecution couldn’t appeal.
The big question is: how far can the entertainment cartel push their proprietary and illogical version of reality before the public truly revolts? The US public may not be prone to large scale protest, but take away our TV and movies? Look out!
Previously:
Copyright, Fair Use, Free Speech 11/2/01 Will You Be a Consumer or a Creator? 7/16/02 Fuck the Entertainment Cartel, for They Are Evil 7/22/02 And the Entertainment Cartel Shows Themselves To Be More Evil By the Day 7/24/02
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_novdec_2002/globalmedia.html