wessman
June 4th, 2003, 06:48 PM
Court divided on posting DVD codes on Internet: CASE TESTS FREE SPEECH VS. MOVIE-INDUSTRY TRADE SECRETS
By David Kravets
Associated Press
Posted on Fri, May. 30, 2003
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5975757.htm
The California Supreme Court appeared divided Thursday on whether courts can block computer users from posting on the Internet the computer codes to copy DVD movies.
The dispute centers on San Francisco computer programmer Andrew Bunner, who in 1999 posted the code to an encryption program that the movie industry says is used to unlawfully replicate thousands of movies a day. The DVD Copy Control Association, an arm of Hollywood studios, sued saying the association, not Bunner or others, controls the program called the content scramble system, or CSS, which prevents unauthorized copying of a movie sold in the DVD format.
The association sued Bunner and others under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, a California law designed to protect trade secrets. The California Supreme Court has never ruled on the issue, and a decision is expected in 90 days.
A San Jose judge ordered Bunner to remove the program, which also allows DVDs to be played on a computer, from the Internet. But the 6th District Court of Appeal in San Jose lifted that injunction, a move the DVD Copy Control Association said was akin to giving crooks the technology to reproduce protected material -- such as movies -- en masse.
The court of appeal ruled that protecting trade secrets is not as important as ``the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.''
But whether Bunner was exercising free speech was the focal point in an hour of arguments before the seven justices, in which the California attorney general urged the Supreme Court to overturn the appellate court.
``The program is a burglary tool,'' Attorney General Bill Lockyer argued. Lockyer added that a ruling for Bunner would hurt an industry that relies on laws meant to protect company trade secrets.
Justice Janice Rogers Brown wondered whether a ruling favoring Bunner would essentially strip any meaning from the law designed to protect trade secrets.
``If we follow your line of reasoning, would that preclude injunctions in any trade-secret cases?'' Brown asked Bunner's attorney, David Greene.
Greene replied that Bunner did not invent the encryption code but instead posted it on one of his Web sites. Had Bunner cracked the code himself, then perhaps his Internet speech could be curtailed, Greene said.
Bunner, 26, said after the hearing that he has removed any reference to the encryption program from his site and is fighting the case to stand up for free-speech rights.
Bunner is one of dozens of people around the country the association is suing.
© 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
By David Kravets
Associated Press
Posted on Fri, May. 30, 2003
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5975757.htm
The California Supreme Court appeared divided Thursday on whether courts can block computer users from posting on the Internet the computer codes to copy DVD movies.
The dispute centers on San Francisco computer programmer Andrew Bunner, who in 1999 posted the code to an encryption program that the movie industry says is used to unlawfully replicate thousands of movies a day. The DVD Copy Control Association, an arm of Hollywood studios, sued saying the association, not Bunner or others, controls the program called the content scramble system, or CSS, which prevents unauthorized copying of a movie sold in the DVD format.
The association sued Bunner and others under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, a California law designed to protect trade secrets. The California Supreme Court has never ruled on the issue, and a decision is expected in 90 days.
A San Jose judge ordered Bunner to remove the program, which also allows DVDs to be played on a computer, from the Internet. But the 6th District Court of Appeal in San Jose lifted that injunction, a move the DVD Copy Control Association said was akin to giving crooks the technology to reproduce protected material -- such as movies -- en masse.
The court of appeal ruled that protecting trade secrets is not as important as ``the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.''
But whether Bunner was exercising free speech was the focal point in an hour of arguments before the seven justices, in which the California attorney general urged the Supreme Court to overturn the appellate court.
``The program is a burglary tool,'' Attorney General Bill Lockyer argued. Lockyer added that a ruling for Bunner would hurt an industry that relies on laws meant to protect company trade secrets.
Justice Janice Rogers Brown wondered whether a ruling favoring Bunner would essentially strip any meaning from the law designed to protect trade secrets.
``If we follow your line of reasoning, would that preclude injunctions in any trade-secret cases?'' Brown asked Bunner's attorney, David Greene.
Greene replied that Bunner did not invent the encryption code but instead posted it on one of his Web sites. Had Bunner cracked the code himself, then perhaps his Internet speech could be curtailed, Greene said.
Bunner, 26, said after the hearing that he has removed any reference to the encryption program from his site and is fighting the case to stand up for free-speech rights.
Bunner is one of dozens of people around the country the association is suing.
© 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.