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Interview with DeCSS Lawyer

Posted by Hemos on from the very-very-smart dept.

Feed Mag currently is running an interview with Martin Garbus. Garbus is going to be the lead litigator in the attempt to stop the gag order on 2600 regarding the dicussion of DeCSS. Garbus is one extremely intelligent man, and the interview really shows that.

9 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. a more specific link by adric · · Score: 5

    would be to here. :-)
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    not plane, nor bird, nor even frog...
  2. What are they up to? by lpopman · · Score: 5

    "If you now went to the Disney Infoseek site, you would find references to DeCSS -- you would get through that site the exact thing that Disney's trying to stop in this suit. You would find that the search engines that are owned by these very plaintiffs do exactly the same thing that they're trying to stop. They link. What the MPAA is doing is trying to stop certain people from linking."

    What this means, effectively, is that the search engines will be the only legal source of links to the DeCSS source. It is then only a trivial matter to track down the posters, and throw them to the lawyers.

    Ultimately, DeCSS will be sent underground, and that could possibly strengthen the MPAA's argument that DeCSS is a tool of piracy (Oh look, they're hiding behind handles on secret undernet channels. They must be 31337 pir8ez.)

    Just my tuppence worth. (Yep, I'm a tea drinker!)

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  3. Re:Can the URLs themselves be prohibited? by bwt · · Score: 5

    Quoting Garbus: Right now the MPAA has got an order from the court which makes it possible to stop the posting of the DeCSS. The MPAA has now made a motion to expand the injunction to include linking. What I'd like to know is, if links themselves are prohibited, can simply posting the text of the URL itself be prohibited as well? If we get to this extreme, I think we've gone way over the first amendment line.


    The Openlaw DVD Forum is going to submit an amicus brief making exactly this point. We're currently at the 4th draft and are trying to finish up by this weekend.

    Garbus and his associate Edward Hernstadt have been very supportive of our attempts to apply open source methods to crafting legal arguments. Both have even posted to our mailing list. Anyone who wishes to get involved should check it out. There is also a very good resources page there.

  4. Internet Trial: Join in at Openlaw by wendy · · Score: 5
    Garbus: The other thing this case is about, which is very interesting to me, is that it's kind of going to be an Internet legal trial in the sense that some of the people on the Internet and some people who deal with the Internet are very interested in this particular trial -- and every document, witness's word, judge's ruling, and lawyer's call will be on the Internet within a day.
    He's serious about getting all the documents online. Cryptome has been posting them nearly as soon as they are filed. In addition, we're using the Openlaw/DVD forum to develop arguments online.

    In the next few days, we'll be filing an amicus brief arguing against the MPAA's proposed injunction on hyperlinking.

    Join the fight!

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    -- Openlaw: Fighting for fair use and the public domain

  5. Re:Ok, what if... by the_other_one · · Score: 5

    Sing the DeCSS code to a Metalica tune then put it on Napster

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    134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
  6. hehehe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    downloading a three megabyte file was ridiculously slow over a 14k modem. But now it takes thirty seconds.
    I had no idea that 14K modem technology had progressed so much in the last few years! =)

  7. WOW! by the_other_one · · Score: 5

    2,081,730 matches for decss

    The same search engine only shows 1,065,121 matches for sex

    Therefore decss is more popular than sex

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    134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
  8. Can the URLs themselves be prohibited? by John+Jorsett · · Score: 5

    Quoting Garbus: Right now the MPAA has got an order from the court which makes it possible to stop the posting of the DeCSS. The MPAA has now made a motion to expand the injunction to include linking. What I'd like to know is, if links themselves are prohibited, can simply posting the text of the URL itself be prohibited as well? If we get to this extreme, I think we've gone way over the first amendment line.

  9. Re:Code Is Free Speech Aregument Will Not Work... by bwt · · Score: 5

    While many of the libertarians on /. (including myself) may see the merit of the "code is free speech" defense, the fact is that it has little legal merit. The authors of viruses can be prosecuted because that code may present a real danger. Just as the courts have decided to impose limits on verbal expression (i.e. the overused fire in a theater example) that can present a public danger, they will place restrictions on the distribution of code. One of the questions that is raised is: is the *threat* of piracy a public hazard that justifies the restriction on expression.

    Piracy has little to do with DeCSS. Even the MPAA cannot cite an example of it being used for this. This is a case about communicating ideas learned by examining copyrighted material. This does not present a "danger" - in fact, just the opposite, suppressing it is the far more dangerous path.

    The burden on the government, before it upholds a content based ban on speech is called the "strict scrutiny" standard. To meet this the governement must show that it regulates to protect a compelling state interest (whose maginitude is at least as great as the right to free speech) and that it does so by the least restrictive means.

    This "Least restrictive means" requirement is a razor sharper than Occum's. The US Supreme Court reaffirmed it as a hard-line requirement this week in US v. Playboy.