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'DVD Jon' Acquitted On All Counts in DeCSS Case

Posted by timothy on from the minor-victory-for-common-sense dept.

benh57 writes "Jon Johansen, the author of DeCSS, has been acquitted on all charges by the Norwegian Supreme Court.' Johansen and his defense attorney Halvor Manshaus won on all counts, with the Oslo court ruling that Johansen did nothing wrong when he helped cracked the code on a DVD that was his own personal property.'" Here's Aftenposten's story, in English. Read on below for some more links, and please post others in the comments. Update: 01/07 14:02 GMT by T : Reader Torstein Grotnes writes with a correction: The court which cleared Johansen is not Norway's Supreme Court, but rather "the 'tingrett' which is two steps below 'supreme court' level."

Here's John Leyden's story at the Register about the ruling.

LarsBT links to this Reuters newsflash and points out that since Johansen's arrest, "Norway has introduced legislation similar to the European Unions directive on copyright [pdf], making it illegal to circumvent any copyright protection - making it highly unlikely that he would be found not guilty under these new rules."

An anonymous reader writes with some background (or do a search on Slashdot for DeCSS ;)): "Read the DVD-Jon lawsuit story here and here" and notes that "'the prosecution decided to charge Johansen with a data break-in, rather than handle the matter as a copyright case.' The court said that DeCSS could be used both legally and illegally and referred to similar cases outside the computing industry. The court said it was difficult to conclude on Johansen's intentions with DeCSS, but there was no conclusive evidence."

6 of 400 comments (clear)

  1. What a surprise! by unterderbrucke · · Score: 4, Funny

    The judge realized that information wanted to be free!

  2. Re:Not supreme court by trezor · · Score: 2, Funny
    • We'll see, though. There are powerful forces in motion

    American industry does not control the Norwegian goverment if anyone should think so. The Norwegian goverment is merely incompetent, but not entirely corrupt.

    I live here, I should know :)

    --
    Not Buzzword 2.0 compliant. Please speak english.
  3. Re:not really a victory by IPFreely · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not only that, but the car is backing up for another pass...

    --
    There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
  4. The Axis of Evil is expanding by hysterion · · Score: 4, Funny
    First Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea.

    Now Norway.

    Is Massachusetts next? This is scary.

    --
    Timeo idiotikOS et dona ferentes
  5. Re:Indeed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    \i{The MPAA f**ked up, thats all :)}

    Maybe the just messed up the on the currency conversion rates when they handed over the briefcase full of cash?

  6. Re:If a thief farts and noones there.... by StevenMaurer · · Score: 3, Funny

    The MPAA/RIAA would love this interpretation of the law.

    That way, they'd never file a report, and you'd have to buy your CD collection all over again.

    No thanks.