DVD CCA Sues Webmasters, News Sites

The DVD Copy Control Association has taken legal action against the operators of Web sites that link to or host software that is used to defeat the "CSS" encryption used on DVDs. In the suit, filed on December 28th in California Superior Court, the DVD CCA requests the court to prevent Web sites from distributing a software program called DeCSS, which by copying the DVD movie to a hard drive, removes the encryption.

The request for legal injunction, which names 20 individuals and 72 unknown defendants, alleges "Defendants' actions threaten the
financial stability of this new digital video format for viewing movies and other images -- which has thus far been well received by the consuming public." Ironically, the lawsuit may result in the introduction of more DVD decryption software.

DeCSS is a simple program which is able to decrypt and copy the DVD movie data to a hard drive. This decryption method was discovered by Jon Johansen after reverse engineering a decoder by Xing Technology Corporation (www.xingtech.com). Once he found Xing's decryption method, Johansen was able to guess many other decryption codes used by other companies and build them into his DeCSS software. The CSS encryption itself was very weak, a big mistake on the part of the DVD CCA. Now that the encryption method has been discovered and is out in the open, more comprehensive software with more objectionable features will be introduced.

The DVD CCA worked hard to convince motion picture companies that its copy protection was secure, and many feel this lawsuit is a way for the company to save face. By focusing on DeCSS rather than the decryption scheme, DVD CCA is able to point the blame away from itself. The injunction claims that DeCSS will lead to piracy, an "activity which is fatal to the DVD video format and the hundreds of computer and consumer electronics companies whose businesses rely on the viability of this digital format."

The suit goes on to say, "Additionally, Defendants' actions threaten the very
existence of DVD CCA and the hundreds of companies involved in the DVD industry,
including 73 companies in California of which there are 42 in this county and an
additional 17 in other Bay area locations. Moreover, if Defendants are not
restrained and enjoined, their unchecked illegal activities will chill future
technological innovation in the motion picture, consumer electronics and
computer industries and discourage other industries from making their content
available to the public (as the motion picture industry has done here) in new
formats."

But posters to Slashdot.Org message boards disagreed with the notion that decryption of DVDs would result in significantly more piracy. One poster wrote, "The breaking of CSS encryption has absolutely nothing to do with
piracy. Think about it for a second: how feasible is it to move around 5- and 6-
gigabyte DVDs? How do you store them? Not on your hard drive, that's for sure!
How many people do you think can afford a DVD burner capable creating true
dual-layer DVDs (and not DVD-RAM discs, which are something completely
different?) And when DVDs can be bought online by a judicious shopper for as
little as $5 per title, do you really think anyone's going to go out of his way
to pirate them?"

The discussion on Slashdot has come to another interesting conclusion about the cracking of CSS encryption. Many feel that because the industry has been refusing to support open source operating systems such as Linux or FreeBSD, reverse engineering of the technology was the only way to bring about cross compatibility. UNIX users are now able to view their DVD videos off their hard drive without booting into Windows.

It is yet to be seen how viable a case the DVD CCA really has. With many defendants unknown or not located within the United States, the courts may have trouble enforcing any ruling. Moreover, because the DVD CCA has never received a patent for CSS encryption, it will have to prosecute for distribution of trade secrets, despite the fact those accused never entered into a contract with the DVD CCA agreeing to remain silent. The hearing is scheduled for December 29th at 8:30 a.m, giving defendants less than 24 hours to show up in court.

Other elements of the DVD CCA's lawsuit also seem questionable, as DeCSS has been
available for some time now without causing a collapse in DVD sales or industry
support. DVD "pirates" cannot afford to mass produce pirated DVDs at this time
because the cost of a professional DVD burner is thousands of dollars, and a
blank DVD is around $25. When all these costs are added together, it is much
cheaper just to buy the DVD at the store.

While the issue of DVD decryption is debated, one thing seems clear - DVD will not disappear. Critics of DVD technology have long said that the DVD CCA has had too much control. The movie industry was very reluctant about hopping on the DVD bandwagon in the beginning, but over time support has grown exponentially. While DVD CCA alleges that the format could be ruined by DeCSS, it seems unlikely considering the state of the music industry years after the introduction of the unprotected MP3 format.