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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...
News in the mother tongue appears to be spreading!
Quod scripsi, scripsi.
It was an appeal case. He was tried before a lower court first. Okokrim appealed before a higher court and lost again. They could have appealed once more but didn't.
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
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
Nor are laws from the USA relevant in the least. There is nothing similar to your "Double Jeopardy" laws in Norway, if the prosecutor appeals (as in this case) your guilt in a single case can be tried twice. Still, the court leans heavily towards following the decision in the first instance unless there's heavy new arguments, or obvious procedural errors in the lower court.
Thus this was no big surprise.
By the way, nothing new happened today. All that happened is that the time-limit for appealing to the supreme court (3 weeks I think) came and went without any appeal being logded by Okokrim, thus the verdict is final.
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
No, in Norway, the state covers the expences for a lawyer, so the defendant will not suffer.
Remember, Norway is a social-democratic country; free health services, schools, etc... and high taxes.
Linux IS user friendly, it's just choosy of who it's friends are.
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
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.
Sure. Ever tried to compare production cost of a VHS tape (with all the tiny mechanical components) to the production cost of a pressed DVD?
(solely) Considering that, VHS should be 50% more expensive than DVD instead of the other way around as in daily practise.
Both the government and the accused have the right to appeal any verdict two times. The appeal may be refused. After the first acquittal, the government appealed, but was rejected. They then took some time to decide whether they wanted to appeal to the supreme court. They decided not to, and the case is over for all time. This was both an explanation of the appeals process, and the informative stuff form the article. The rest was just fluff form Johansen's lawyer, and some history of the case. And the article was in Norwegian, not Swedish. But I believe most Swedes would be able to read it regardless.
Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.
Norway is one of the most beautiful places on earth I'd say.. and I'm swedish ..
"You've already made us look stupid twice doing your dirty work, so we quit."
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
As there seem to be a bit of confusion of the different scandinavian languages, here is the ultrashort version of scandinavian history.
ca 900: Scandinavia was filled with vikinks all speaking old norse. At this point they started making real kingdoms (norway, sweden and denmark).
1397: the kalmar union all of scandinavia is united under queen Margrethe I.
1512: sweden leaves the union. Norway and Denmark continues now ruled under the danish king.
1658:Denmark has to give large parts of denmark(southern part of sweden today) and norway to sweden. Because the swedish army is only 20 km from the capital of denmark.
1660:Frederick III induces a royal despotism. Leaving norway almost without rights in the union.
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.
1813:Denmark is bankrupt and gives Norway to Sweden.
1905: Norway becomes independent of sweden.
This should give some idea of why the scandinavian languages are so close, and why Norwegian is easiest to understand for both swedes and danes alike.
It does set a legal precident. Two courts decided that
(1) Making a back-up copy of a fragile item like a DVD was legal, and
(2) You are entitled to view a DVD you purchased on the machine of your choice.
The fact that it didn't go to the highest court doesn't stop this being a precident (outside of the US going all the way up to the equivalent of the supreme court is fairly rare). I guess the prosecutors just decided they had no realistic chance of winning.
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
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
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."
"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."
... 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
The Register has an article about this in English.
"Do I dare disturb the universe?"
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".