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DVD-Jon Completely Clear
A reader writes: "The case against DVD-Jon was finally ended today. DVD-Jon won the first trial on the 6th of January 2003. The Norwegian Okokrim appealed but Jon also won the new trial the 22. December. It was expected that Okokrim would appeal this decission to the Supreme Court, but today Nettavisen is reporting that Okokrim have decided not to pursue the case further. No news in English yet, but they will probably be there soon. I guess the news will be on in English soon." Okokrim is the Norwegian equivalent to the RIAA here in the States - and yes, Virginia, this means DVD back-up is fully legal in Norway. Spelling updates - thanks, Disillusioned.
Okokrim is The Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime. More information here.
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
Do we have to call him "DVD-Jon"? Seriously. That ranks up there with always referring to presidential assassins by their full name.
News in the mother tongue appears to be spreading!
Quod scripsi, scripsi.
What a great way to start a monday morning, two inspiring stories about the fight against DRM. First, the Big 5 record companies are being tried because of the DRM on CDs, and now DVD-Jon having all charges dropped. A big w00t to that.
Canadian Cynic, canadian politics is less boring than you
It's not completely, anyway.
Can anybody who speaks Swedish translate the article for us?
Please reschedule Norway and Belgium ahead of Syria and Iraq. Thanks.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Lesson learned: always act preventativly or it will be all too late.
That's why I think that people should take this MS monopoly stuff more seriously.
Over 90 years and counting !
Linux-Linus. Doh! :)
I just bought a DVD+Jon writer!
This Norway is sounding like a pretty good place to be. Too bad it's in, like, Norway.
They are backing down from the legal court battle because they will be paying off the bureaucrats (read: lobbying) to create new laws in norway to address this type of activity (i.e. DMCA).
English Aftenposten article
Nope, Okokrim is a state-owned unit prosecuting economic, computer and environmental crimes. At least in theory, they are pursuing lawbreakers on behalf of the Norwegian state (i.e. the Norwegian people).
RIAA is a trade association, an interest group for lobbying lawmakers and protecting the interests of publishers of recorded music. They are purely interested in squeezing the most amount of money out of music artists and consumers.
--Martin
My buddy, Thor, was about to go on a killing spree in the Norwegian court system. He was mumbling about not being able to copy his favorite tear-jerker to his laptop of doom, and he was just grabbing his hammer and helmet when I saw this and and showed him.
Banaaaana!
Please don't mod up people who have links to Nero-online in their sigs. It may not be a goatse/tubgirl yet but you must have got the general idea by now. In fact don't mod up people who do that, even if he has switched sigs by the time you read this. Oh yes, how clever *roll*
Now if we could only get around U.S. law. You are legally allowed to make an archival backup copy for your own use. However, the DVD manufacturers do not have to make it possible for you to do so, and circumventing their copy-protection is a crime. So they are infringing on your rights, and if you assert them, they have big brother on their side.
I hate sigs.
- that they will be going after VHS Lars next..
avspille DVD-filmer pa andre operativsystemer enn Microsoft Windows.20
The article mentions that the reason for the code was to play DVDs on operating systems other than "Microsoft Windows.20".
Is this just a typo?
Jon Johansen is not that famous among the tabloid's readers, though. And "Jon" is a very common name in Norway. Hence "DVD-Jon".
--
Herman Robak
Alright, I'm Swedish, so I might have made a mistake or two.. I'm not doing a complete translation, just translating the relevant bits. Content should be accurate though.
:)
Lawyer: DVD-Jon is on holiday in France, and I haven't spoken to him yet. However, we have discussed this as a possible outcome, and I therefore know that he will be very pleased to hear the news, as he can finally relax and stop thinking about this case.
It has been 4 years since the legal actions against DVD-Jon were taken, and he was only 15 at the time. It has been a heavy burden for him during these important years in his life. However, I think he has handled the situation well. He wrote DeCSS so that people can play DVD's on other OS'es than Windows. This case has been brought up by IT media all over the world, and many people have expressed support for DVD-Jon.
From the verdict in the "lagmannsretten" in december last year, the court said that it was clear that he had bought the DVD's himself, and therefore he has the right to play them however he wishes to.
"Lagmannsretten" also said that if you buy a DVD, there is a risk that it may become damaged, and therefore you have the right to make a copy of the DVD, if it's a movie you intend to preserve.
As I said, not an exact translation, but should be sufficient
I am not Norwegian and I am in a hurry so I will just translate bits and pieces that seem the most important (not the history of the case).
:)
:)
Feel free to correct
Okokrim har valgt a ikke anke straffesaken mot Jon Lech Johansen. Dermed blir frifinnelsen av DVD-Jon staende.
The Economic Crime unit has chosen not to pursue further action against Jon Johansen. DVD Jon has been aquitted.
- Min klient er fortsatt pa ferie i Frankrike, og jeg har ikke fatt snakket med ham enna. Men vi diskuterte jo dette utfallet som en mulighet for han reiste avgarde. Derfor vet jeg at han vil bli veldig fornoyd med a slippe og tenke mer pa dette, sier DVD-Jons forsvarer, advokat Halvor Manshaus, til TV 2 Nettavisen.
My Client is on vacation in France and I have not spoken with him. But we held discussions before he left. Therefore I know that he vill be very satisfied with the charges being let go and think more about this (my note: the vacation, presumably) said Jon's lawyer and advocate Halvor Manshaus to TV 2
- Lagmannsretten legger til grunn at en DVD-plate er sa utsatt for a fa skader at kjoperen ma vaere berettiget til a ta en kopi, for eksempel av en film han er spesielt interessert i a bevare, het det i dommen.
The judge rulled the software was legal iff you bought the film. You are entitled to make a copy of that disc. For example, if there is a film you had a special interest in preserving.
Sorry for the rough translation but though something would be better than nothing right now
--Joey
The Norwegian paper Aftenposten as an english article online: DVD-Jon wins new legal victory.
Linux IS user friendly, it's just choosy of who it's friends are.
My son likes to chew on my DVDs. So if I leave one in the player by mistake, and he happens to be around, he will play with the player, but eventually he gets around to putting 1 -2 bite marks on it.
He does not understand that he is hosing the DVDs. Thus, either I keep forking out $20 everytime he does this, or I go back to Video Tapes. I am certain DVDs are more profitable for the industry than tapes.
I have not bought any dvd backup system yet because they are so expensive but I plan to. I certainly hope they see that I need this and am not a thief. Unless they are willing to provide free replacements!?
Can anybody who speaks Swedish translate the article for us? ;)
Ok.. Although it's written in Norwegian. But it's close enough.
DVD-Jon very happy
Okokrim has chosen not to persue its case against John Lech Johansen. Thus the aquittal of DVD-Jon stands.
"My client is on vacation in France, and I haven't yet spoken to him. But we did discuss this posibility before he left. So I know he will be very happy not to have to think about this any more", said DVD-Jons defense attorney Halvor Manhaus to TV2 Nettavisen.
Time for consideration
The 22 of December last year, the Borgarting [higher court] decided to dismiss the charges by Okokrim against Jon Lech Johansen. Okokrim has since taken time for consideration, but has now chosen not to persue an appeal.
"Its been four yeras since this all started and Jon was then 15 years old. He has carried this heavy burden through important years of his life and it has weighed heavily on him. But I feel he's handled it very well." says attorney Halvor Manshaus.
It was the 6th of January last year the Oslo tingsrett [lower court] first aquitted DVD-Jon who thus won his first victory against Okokrim.
For years of waiting
Okokrim took action against Johansen four years ago, after he had distributed a program on the internet which enabled the breaking of the built-in copy protection CSS in DVDs.
As a 15 year-old, Johansen managed to break the security code. He was arrested in January 2000.
The now 20 year-old Johansen has claimed that the program DeCSS was developed to play DVD-films on other operating systems than Microsoft Windows. He has consistently claimed that his only motive was a desire to watch DVD-movies on PCs using the operating system Linux.
The case has caused a lot of attention in IT circles both in- and outside of Norway, and most have expressed support for DVD-Jon.
Allowed a copy
From the verdict in Lagmannsretten [higher court] last year, it was considered evident that DVD-Jon had legally purchased his DVDs, and thus had the right to make copies of them.
"The Lagmannsrett finds that a DVD is so vunerable to damage that the purchaser must be entitled to make a copy, for example of a movie he is particularily interested in preserving", part of the verdict read.
The headline is completly correct, what do you want?
And apparently, circumvention of encryption for that purpose is legal as well.
Under old law, that is. Norway, as an EFTA (European Free Trade Association) member is obliged to implement some EU legislation like the European Copyright Directive related to aspects of the Information Society.
This piece of law requires local governments to implement in national legislation that circumvention of copyright protection is illegal. And it was not implemented at the date of the alledged (but apparently not committed) crime.
So although this has been an interesting case, it seems rather irrelevant to me for the future of DeCSS.
In summary: No appeal. So what? We're right back at the start.
> the software was legal iff you bought the film
Did you mistype if or do you really mean iff? If this is true, that's pretty interesting. You can't use the software (look at it? read the code? what?) if you haven't bought a film.
Anyone care to elaborate?
My other car is first.
Post: Sigged, for your pleasure.
"Allowed a copy" should really have been translated as "Allowed to copy".
"You've already made us look stupid twice doing your dirty work, so we quit."
that I copied my DVDs in Norway and I am safe?
Yeah, in all honesty, I am now in despair of news sources getting their spelling and grammar past even the most rudimentary errors.
I was watching CNN this morning and the headline appeared:
Going to far?
(promoting an upcoming item about the U.S. requiring certain people to be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter the country). Yes, for those of you who adhere to the Commander Taco school of ed-yoo-ka-shun, that should have been
Going TOO far?
Yes, I know they're subject to tight deadlines, but really!
From Infoworld:
An Oslo Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a lower court's ruling clearing Jon Lech Johansen of charges related to his development and distribution of DeCSS, a software tool that can be used to crack copy protection on DVDs.
Wrong! CSS does not prevent DVDs from behing copied, it prevents "movies" from being read (played) on machines of which the MPAA does not approve. If this is how the American tech press is going to pick up on it, I'd rather they'd stick to something they understand.
Fred
"A fool and his freedom are soon parted"
-RMS
The issue is, in a nutshell, whether you're going around the encryption scheme. You can still make a bit-for-bit copy of the encrypted data and play it in your DVD player. In what way is this not sufficient for "archival purposes?"
and everything works!!!
;)
Amen to that, brother.
Now, I'm biased, of course, as I'm Swedish, but what strikes me as odd whenever I leave the Nordic countries, and in particular when I decided to live in the UK for half a year or so is how everything elsewhere tend not to work properly. Something is always broken. Once a week there's no hot water, once a month there's no water at all. The wind blows right through gaps between windows and frames, trains are regularly late, the elevator seems to always be broken, and you'll have to take the stairs... the list is endless...
Oh well... that's probably one of the main reasons I moved back. Heck, it's even warmer here in the winter than in the UK. Why? Because once you're inside, the house actually keeps a different temperature than outside
Oh, well... congrats, J. You deserved to win.
May we live long and die out
But, will this common sense judgement migrate to US courts..
I doubt it.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I believe that what is meant here is...
"The software is legal to use to view a film if you own the film."
In other words, you can't use the software to violate copyright, that's all.
I sing the doggie electric!
The Norweigian RIAA is called TONO.
Okokrim is the Norweigian Police White Collar crimes unit.
Better keep those CDRs away from him.
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
As far as I understand it all this means is Jon is free. The case wasn't taken to the Norwegian Supreme Court, so no legal precedent was made (presumably the reason why it didn't go to the SC). I may have misunderstood things (in the best /. tradition IANANL) but I don't think so.
"'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
- JRR Tolkien.
This is completely off-topic, but while reading the DVD-Jon story on Aftenposten (yes, I read the stories, there goes my karma), I browsed some of the other stories, and:
Did you know that Norway leads the world in both per-capita porn consumption *and* per-capita deodorant use?
Is there a connection between the two? I have no idea. I simply know that I must move to Oslo someday. It's calling my name.
I am wondering. Would it be save for DVD-Jon to go to the USA? Will the RIAA respect the Norwegian verdict or will it seize the opportunity to lynch trail him the american way?
Nyh
Is how they not only pursue economic crime, but also have made it their personal goal to pursue Mullah Krekar, suspected of encouraging muslims to commit suicide bombings.
Meanwhile, the PST (Previously called POT, but they changed their name for some reason) seem to be sitting on their asses while Okokrim is stealing all the spotlights. What's up with that?
Remember, they got Al Capone on tax evasion. Not for being a gangster.
Seriously. Think it comes from that muppet in the whitehouse being on our TVs so much. You should do something about him.
+5, Insightful.
HA! Not understanding an issue never stopped them from discussing it before. The mainstream "American Press" frequently "elaborates on issues" without a clue what they're talking about. Some typical myths the "American Press" insists on blindly perpetuating:
DeCSS is used to make copies of DVDs.
Patently false. As you've already pointed out, CSS is used to prevent a movie from playing on "unapproved" playback systems. DeCSS is used to play those unplayable movies. It never comes into play in the copying process which is why pirate DVDs have been available since DVDs were introduced to the market.
Kazaa is an illegal music sharing site.
Patently false. While many people use it to share illegal music files, KaZaa is a client for accessing a p2p network which can be used to share ANY files, legitimate or not (and it's not a "site"...).
The music industry has said that "xyz" is legal/illegal....
Terribly misleading. Who cares what the music industry says is legal? When I have to stand before Cary Sherman for judgement in a courtroom (god help us all), I'll give a crap what the music industry says is legal.
An "Internet Virus" has been loosed...
...in reference to a virus that only affects one platform (typically, Windows).
mp3s are illegally copied music files that Internet users share.
My god.. I don't even know where to start with this tripe.
To sum it all up, the American Press is just as technologically retarded as the typical American Citizen, so it works out pretty well in the end for selling newspapers and magazines.
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
Don't leave a DVD there. Or leave one that is already chewed. Or unplug your DVD player so the tray won't open.
I'm sure that you have plenty of things in your house that your son has wrecked. How did you handle those situations?
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Harald Blaatand was King of Denmark from 958 to 986. Bluetooth is Blaatand in English (blaa means blue and tand means tooth).
Under Harald Blatand, Norway was conquered about 960 and lost again about 975.
Source: (http://www.fortidensjelling.dk/Konger%e6kken_del_ 2.htm#54.jpeg)
List of Danish kings: http://www.fortidensjelling.dk/jelling10.htm
At the hearing the question came up whether in fact the reverse engineering involved was legal under Norwegian law. The judge called for opinions from Norwegian lawyers. The plaintiff trotted out a tame Norwegian lawyer who asserted (without support of any kind) that it was not legal. The defendant's lawyer said nothing in Norwegian law or case law supported any opinion one way or the other. The judge took that to mean that in fact it wasn't legal. That meant that the MPAA still had a valid trade secret in CSS.
Now that it's established that in fact the reverse engineering was legal, Bunner et al. should be able to have the decision vacated. (Shame on that judge for his bias.) This should mean that the DVD-CCA's trade secret protection on CSS cannot any longer be enforced.
Is there any word on whether the EFF will act on this?
Does this make my DeCSS source code Tshirt no longer edgy and cool? I might audition for Australian Idol 2 wearing one just to see if I can get it on Tele in an ARIA sponsored event.
In Norway we have an organization similar to the Electronic Frontier Foundtation (EFF). They're called Elektronisk Forpost Norge (EFN). EFN has been collecting information about this case since it started.
Net information about the Jon Johansen ("DVD Jon") case
Here's a more accurate translation of that paragraph:
Lagmannsretten legger til grunn at en DVD-plate er sa utsatt for a fa skader at kjoperen ma vaere berettiget til a ta en kopi, for eksempel av en film han er spesielt interessert i a bevare, het det i dommen.
"The court argues that DVD-records are so exposed to damage that the buyer must be entitled to make a copy; for example of a movie he's particulary interested in preserving."
I backed these DVDs up while on a cruise in the Norwegian fjords!
realkiwi
"It remains to be seen if the Norwegian Supreme Court will have the opportunity to decide whether the prosecution's interpretation of the law was correct, the Motion Picture Associaton says. "If the present decision is the courts' final word on the matter, we hope that Norwegian legislature will move quickly to implement the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) Copyright Treaty to correct this apparent weakness in Norwegian law."
OGG files are legal music files that can be used in arious ways
"mp3" is just too infected a term, an infection which odd doesn't share.
"ogg" damnit... OGG!
The reason DVD-Jon was sent to trial twice was a wrong courts decision.
DVD-Jon was charged with "datainbrudd" (computer break-in) since he cracked the CSS codes.
This is a crime, but it was unclear if this would qualify as a computer break-in.
The trial ended and Jon was aquitted according to copyright laws which said it was legal to make backups of DVDs (basically).
But the courts decision did NOT mention this as possibly a computer break-in.
So Okokrim had to appeal to make it right.
Wether or not it's a copyright issue is another side of the story. One that Okokrim never focused on, but the media did for sure.
Yes, that is a lot better! Takk :)
--Joey
... but here are a few:
- - - - - - -
1397: the kalmar union all of scandinavia is united under queen Margrethe I
The Kalmar Union (so named for the site where the final treaty was signed) did unite the Nordic kingdoms, but Margrethe was never queen. Technically, she administered the united kingdoms of Denmark and Norway for her son Oluf II until he came of age. When he died in 1387, she continued to rule head of the council of nobles, and later as "fully empowered husband [sic] and lady of the North". In this context, please understand that "husband" could also mean something like "manager". Her sister's daughter's son, Bogislaw, son of Vartislav III of Pomerania, was invited to replace Oluf as king, under the more Danish-sounding name "Erik" - although it took some years to achieve recognition of his claim.
By 1397, the Kalmar Treaty was signed, adding Sweden to the Union, and making Erik the king of a united North. Margrethe continued to rule in Erik's name from 1387 until her death in 1412. Erik, after her death, proved a singularly poor king.
- - - - - - -
1660:Frederick III induces a royal despotism. Leaving norway almost without rights in the union.
Crap. Sorry, but that's the only word that fits. Following the near-total defeat of Denmark in the preceding years, and the loss of huge tracts of Danish land to Sweden, the Danish nobility (near-universally blamed for the disaster) was so discredited that the time was ripe for a system change. Driven largely by the interests of the emerging bourgeoisie in Copenhagen, absolutism (not "despotism" - you really need a dictionary) was implemented in Denmark, and later codified in the Royal Law (the world's first absolutist constitution).
The absolutist system, which may sound anathema to modern democratically-raised individuals, was in fact a great improvement on the previous aristocratic rule. The influence of the growing civic population created an unprecedented degree of freedom in Denmark. The system functioned adequately from 1660 until 1849, and was more or less stable throughout.
As for Norway being without rights, that is complete nonsense. Norway was well-integrated into the political and economic processes of the dual monarchy, and (unlike the case in the dual monarchies of Austria and Hungary), Norwegians and Danes were equal in both law, economic opportunity and personal freedoms.
- - - - - - -
1807: Denmark has declared itself neutral in the napoleonic wars, but is anyway attacked by the british without a declaration of war, they bomb Copenhagen using the first rockets in warfare killing a third of the population and creating large firestorms.
Extensive fires, not "firestorms". But, yes, it was very bad indeed. The British have a history of making this sort of decision in extremis. It is anecdotally reported that when "Bomber" Harris made the decision to firebomb Dresden during WWII, he remarked, "We'll Copenhagen them!"
- - - - - - -
1813:Denmark is bankrupt and gives Norway to Sweden.
Factually correct as far as the individual facts go, but totally mixed up. Denmark experienced a national bankruptcy - mostly because of the cost of the war and the effects of the British blockade. The cession of Norway to Sweden, however, was part of teh Treaty of Kiel, which ended the Napoleonic Wars in 1814. As "war reparations" to Sweden (which had prudently joined the British once the Danes were forced to join the French side by the British actions of 1801 and 1807), Denmark agreed under duress to swap Norway for Swedish Pomerania - which they later traded for the small Duchy of Lauenburg. The decision to cede Norway was far from popular in Danish and Norwegian circles, and attempts were made to have Norway strike out on its own as an independent state - attempts which failed.
As for the bankruptcy, Sweden agreed (as part of the Treaty of Kiel) to accept the burden of Norway's part of the Danish-Norwegian combined na
- Peter Ravn Rasmussen
Please remove the "Okokrim is the Norwegian equivalent to the RIAA here in the States" part from the story.
Unless you want to present information that is false of course.
Poor Disillusioned. Takes the time to correct spelling mistakes and what thanks does he get? A slashdotting for his website.
Hands up all ya'll who went to Dissillusioned's site, but not to any other link in the article. (My hand is up, I'm afraid.)
Phiwum's law: anyone that names an obvious law after himself and then puts it in his own sig is just pathetic.
"DVD-Jon Completely Clear"
Was I the only one whose first thought upon reading the headline was: "Wow. I didn't know he was a Scientologist."
Those who can, do. Those who can't, write technology blogs.
Aparently my leaders lied about never inhaling.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Much as this drives me nuts as well, think about it. If there's an article on how a building in NYC collapsed in the Times which says that the cause was "structural failure in the concrete", the average reader just doesn't want more detail. Matter of fact, this is probably already more than they want to know. If it was actually the rebar at fault, it's close enough.
So, let's look at the myths that you're complaining about:
DeCSS is used to make copies of DVDs.
The most popular use of DeCSS and ilk has been to allow ripping and recompressing movies into a smaller, home-broadband-friendly format, which can then be redistributed. Short of explaining DiVX and CD burning, this is not an unreasonably far off explanation of what DeCSS is for Joe Public. It gives him a basic idea of what the thing does. It would be atrocious to try to feed this to a judge in a case or a techie, but the same goes for the rebar/concrete above.
Kazaa is an illegal music sharing site.
Also irritating. However, the majority of people out there know about email and the Web, and that's it. As a matter of fact, thanks to Microsoft using "Internet" to refer to the default web browser in XP, this is getting even more irritating -- "do you want to use email or the Internet?". If you don't want to explain the concept of other clients (which takes forever in *person*, much less in a short and snappy news article), this is reasonably on the ball. The "illegal" is pushing the limit -- I'm not entirely comfortable with that. However, it *is* probably true that over 99% of the traffic on Kazaa is illegal.
The music industry has said that "xyz" is legal/illegal....
I agree entirely with you here. It's poor journalism not to also provide an opposing view if you're presenting claims like this, though at *least* they qualify it with "music industry says" or "music industry claims".
An "Internet Virus" has been loosed...
Also irritating, but mostly to advocates of Linux or other mail clients. Few people know what "malware" or "worm" or "trojan" mean, or care. To them, the term "virus" means what "malware" does to you or me. Most people don't really understand or care about spreading mechanisms, other than the easiest method for them to avoid getting screwed over. Most people also use Windows and Windows alone. "Internet Virus" is not unreasonable to describe an Outlook worm in this context.
mp3s are illegally copied music files that Internet users share.
I don't think I've ever seen things put quite this harshly. I wouldn't be surprised to see "Many are illegal..." or "...frequently illegal...", though.
Basically, you *have* to take the context of your audience into account. First, the press is not unbiased. There are newspapers that are liberal, conservative, favor one politician or law over another, etc. It's a lot better than Soviet-era journalism, though. Second of all, if every time someone said "God" in a US newspaper, I suspect that few people feel the need for a Christian god qualification. People simply know what is meant. Sure, there's probably some theological inaccuracies that show up, just as there are technical inaccuracies here, but such is life.
May we never see th
What the heck does being American have to do with making any kind of mistake about what language is spoken in any particular place? Norwegian is the official language spoken in Norway with small Sami and Finnish speaking minorities. I know this from checking the CIA World Factbook.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
whatever
TODO: create/find/steal funny sig.
...you wouldn't want to live in a place that's been named as the best place in the world to live for the second year running, would you?
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
not Swedish. It is a different language, with different spelling of many words, vastly different dialectical differences, and different pronunciation in some cases.
...DVD protection is against the constitution. It works for SCO...sort of.
story
This dude is a bit nuts.
And it was not implemented at the date of the alledged (but apparently not committed) crime.
Just for clarification, the EUCD implementation is still not entered into Norwegian law. So, you have every right to break CSS on every DVD you own up to that point. Also, as far as I can tell, there would be nothing illegal about copies that have been made before that date. Since they are legal copies that contain no copy protection anymore, they do not fall under the EUCD.
As for the future, there's a lot of interesting precedent about what rights you have as a consumer. As the rights of the consumers clash with the copy protection, much can happen. Do not be surprised if the outlawing of tools (DeCSS) are struck down - and that only illegal use of the tools (making unauthorized copies using DeCSS) remain.
Already there an interesting dilemma there - the legal experts have explicitly said that even after the EUCD, breaking the region coding is legal, that is, multi-region players are legal. You have the right to view the movie no matter what zone it is "designated" for. On the other hand, to do that you must be able to decrypt CSS. So then the question is if we have the right to break CSS, because our player is locked.
Do not underestimate the Norwegain courts. Personally I'm a bit sad that the Supreme court didn't get to tear their case apart. But the current precedent is quite clear, and that they won't want to appeal says enough.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
"the Nordic languages" (...) Icelandic is a lot tougher, at least for Swedish speakers.
Yep, for those of you that don't know Iceland, it's an island quite far northwest of most of Europe. Islandic is very similar to Norwegian, Swedish and Danish of a thousand years ago. While we recieved a lot of input from central regions of Europe, Icelandic remained mostly unchanged. So while the basic sentence structure is doable, many words have completely different roots, mostly because we in Scandinavia adopted a new one.
On a second note, it's us of the Scandinavian languages that understand eachother. Nordic usually includes at least Iceland and Finland, and the Finns have a completely different language, not indo-european at all.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
You jest (or, at least, you've been modded as such), but in the last year I've done a 180 degree spin on the gun issue. I used to say "nobody needs a gun, I'd never buy or use one" to today where I'm seriously researching a firearms purchase. Looking at a Beretta, Colt, and/or, just for kicks (ha ha, I'm punny) and collectibility a .50 cal Desert Eagle if I can scrape up the cash (phew.... they ain't cheap). Also looking into a shotgun. I don't really know what I'm going to do with them. In fact, I probably won't even buy any ammo for them.
But... it's nice to know they're there in the unlikely event I do need them (excuse me... some guys in dark blue shirts, caps, and vests would like to have a word with me).
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
The Register has an article about this in English.
"Do I dare disturb the universe?"
Speaking of this, about a week after the Copyright Board of Canada declared that it was legal to download music from p2p programs (but not to upload), someone wrote an editorial in all the Sun Media newspapers denouncing internet music theft, though according to even the government now it is not.
IAN (I Am Norwegian), so here's what I hope will be a reasonable translation:
Okokrim har valgt a ikke anke straffesaken mot Jon Lech Johansen. Dermed blir frifinnelsen av DVD-Jon staende.
Okokrim, The Economic Crime Unit has decided not to appeal the innocent verdict found for Jon. Thus the verdict will stand.
Min klient er fortsatt pa ferie i Frankrike, og jeg har ikke fatt snakket med ham enna. Men vi diskuterte jo dette utfallet som en mulighet for han reiste avgarde. Derfor vet jeg at han vil bli veldig fornoyd med a slippe og tenke mer pa dette, sier DVD-Jons forsvarer, advokat Halvor Manshaus, til TV 2 Nettavisen.
"My client is still on holidays in France, and I haven't talked with him yet. But we discussed this result as a possibility before he left. Therefore, I know he will be very happy that he won't have to think about this anymore" says defence attorney Halvor Manhaus to Nettavisen.
Betenkningstid
Den 22. desember ifjor konkluderte Borgarting lagmannsrett med at anken fra Okokrim i saken mot Jon Lech Johansen skulle forkastes. Okokrim tok deretter betenkningstid, men har na bestemt for ikke a anke videre.
Cooling off period
The Court decided on 22nd Dec 2003 to dismiss the appeal in the case against Jon. The Economic Crime unit took some time to consider this, and has now decided not to appeal this case further.
Det har gatt fire ar siden denne saken startet og Jon var da 15 ar. Han har baret denne tunge byrden med seg gjennom viktige ar i livet og det har vaert en tung belastning. Men jeg synes han har taklet det veldig bra, sier advokat Halvor Manshaus.
"It has been 4 years since this case began and Jon was 15. He has carried this heavy burden well, through important years of his life. I think he has handlet it very well" says attorney Halvor.
Det var 6. januar ifjor i Oslo tingrett at DVD-Jon forst ble frifunnet og dermed vant den forste seieren over Okokrim.
It was 6th Jan 2003 in Oslo tingrett (court) that DVD-Jon was first found innocent, and thus won the first victory over Okokrim.
Ventet fire ar
Okokrim gikk til aksjon mot Johansen for fire ar siden fordi han hadde lagt et program ut pa internett som gjorde det mulig a bryte den innebygde kopisperren CSS i DVD-platene.
Som 15-aring klarte Johansen a knekke sikkerhetskoden. Han ble pagrepet i januar 2000.
Waited four years
Okokrim took action against Johnsen four years ago because he had put a program on the internet which made it possible to break the copy protection on DVD discs [my note: NOT true! DeCSS just makes it possible to PLAY the DVD]
As a 15 year old, Johansen managed to break the code. He was arrested in January 2000.
Den na 20 ar gamle Johansen har selv hevdet at programmet DeCSS ble utviklet for a kunne avspille DVD-filmer pa andre operativsystemer enn Microsoft Windows.20. Han har hele tiden hevdet at hans eneste motiv var et onske om a se DVD-filmer pa PC-er som bruker operativsystemet Linux.
The now 20 year old Johansen has claimed that the DeCSS program was developed to be able to play DVD movies on other operating systems besides MS Windows. He has always claimed that his only motive was a wish to watch DVDs on PCs running the Linux OS.
Saken har vakt mye oppsikt i IT-miljoer i bade inn- og utland, og de aller fleste har uttrykt sin stotte til DVD-Jon.
The case has gotten a lot of attention in the IT world, both domestically and abroad, and most people have expressed their support for Jon
Berettiget til kopi
Fra dommen i lagmannsretten i desember ifjor fremgikk det at DVD-Jon hadde kjopt sine DVD-er lovlig og at han saledes hadde rett til a spille disse av.
Right to copy
From the judgement in December last year it was decided that Jon had bought his DVDs legally and therefore has the right to play them.
Lagmannsretten legger til grunn at en DVD-plate er sa utsatt for a fa
Important info:
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net
http://dieoff.org/synopsis.htm
http://www.peakoil.net
Yes, i did intend my comment to be funny, I know enough to make real threats as AC lol
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Okokrim? Here in Norway we prefer to refer to it as LOCOKRIM.
Sit around and watch for a while. Change your sig and it will change the sig on your prior posts as well.
The translation is by Jon Bing, who also translated the judgement of the first instance court.
Note that footnote 9 is somewhat wrong. He seems to be confusing civil cases with criminal cases; in civil cases the parties may in some instances choose whether or not lay judges are to hear the case. (In civil cases the default is only professional judges.)
I don't understand the purpose of footnote 11, but it should probably read "That is 88,000,000".
They work fine when they're *open.* The ATMs mostly close when the banks close.
This was true several years ago. UFJ is running their ATMs 24/365 now, and most other banks' ATMs are open until 8 or 9 in the evening. There are even 24-hour ATMs in convenience stores.
It seems to me that Japan is years behind the US in terms of banking & payment conveniences. Many grocery stores only accept *their* version of the Visa card.
Remember that Japan is, even now, very much a cash-based society; it's less a matter of convenience and more a matter of "we don't like credit cards". Being in debt is generally frowned upon in Japan (as well as many other East Asian countries, from the little I've heard). Most grocery stores probably have little enough card business that it's not worth their time to accept every card in the world.
I wonder what you mean by "wonderful language?" It's not very direct or specific except when it comes to describing fish.
Hito sore-zore -- to each their own. I happen to like Japanese for those very reasons (among others).
Anyway, it seems Japanese is rapidly turning into something else. Come on--"raisu" instead of "gohan?"
It's the cool factor, so to speak, combined with the old "grass-is-greener" way of thinking. Using imported words is the "in" thing these days, but it'll pass.
To be frank, I've actually done enough reading on your region -- not to mention conversing with people from Scandinavian countries -- to be well aware of not only the geographical difference between Sweden and Norway but also the shared linguistic roots. I was informed that it is actually quite possible for a reader of Swedish to comprehend Norwegian and vice versa, at least to the point of being able to tell what is going on in general. I've also been informed that it is not uncommon for Swedes and Norwegians to be conversant in the languages the countries share, particularly those on the border or whose jobs make it feasible.
Quite honestly, I figured it'd be an American or a European that decided to 'correct' me, and that an actual resident of one of the two countries would roll his eyes but understand the reference and have a good chuckle over the folks leaping to their defense. But the venom you as a Norwegian express towards the intellect and knowledge of approximately 275,000,000 people in response to one post of unknown origin comes as a bit of a shock, and hints at more in common with your (somewhat skewed) perception of the average American citizen than you'd probably be comfortable to admit.
I think Norway's a great place, better yet as I begin to understand the court system, so don't get the wrong impression. I'm also trying to work out how Scandinavians are able to comprehend and speak English as well or better than many native speakers -- it doesn't seem to work the other way.
The verdict
Looks like a fish, drives like a fish, steers like a cow.