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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.
Common mistake to mix up Norwegian and Swedish. That said, a Swedish speaker could translate it with little trouble; the Nordic languages are close enough that a native speaker of Swedish, Norwegian or Danish can understand written text of the others with some difficulty. Icelandic is a lot tougher, at least for Swdish speakers.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
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.
If it comes to that Jefferson warned that large corporations were the most serious threat to liberty all the way back in the late 1700's.
American inheritence tax was originally concieved not, primarily, as a means of deriving funds for the state, but rather to prevent the formation of multigenerational capitalist aristocracies which could wield power greater than the government.
Well, we see how well that worked out.
KFG
Unlike the US counterparts, the Norwegian Okokrim suffers from low-to non-existant computer skills, equipment and insight, and rely heavily on using consultants. Which usually are no better than the police boss that picks the consultants.
Don't assume this is "unlike the US" at all. The level of ignorance, Luddism, and outright hysteria on the part of the US legal system toward any kind of high-tech problem is really shocking. I don't think that I'm exaggerating when I say that most of what most cops, prosecutors, and politicians know about what what might broadly be called "computer crime" comes from watching War Games nigh on twenty years ago and thinking it was a documentary.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
But, will this common sense judgement migrate to US courts..
I doubt it.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
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!