[FYI] (Fwd) MPAA v. 2600

["Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Thu, 23 Mar 2000 07:17:36 -0500
To:             	cryptography@c2.net
From:           	John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Subject:        	MPAA v. 2600

Martin Garbus, an internationally distinguished New York 
attorney, and his firm have been retained by the defense in 
the New York MPAA DeCSS case. Two of the three defendants 
have withdrawn under consent agreements, leaving only the
magazine 2600, which succeeds its publisher, Emmanuel 
Goldstein, as defendant. At a hearing on Monday a trial date 
was set for December 5.

Mr. Garbus has provided an intra-office memo on his firm's
participation and his CV:

  http://cryptome.org/mpaa-2600-mg.htm

Excerpt:

The Firm has been retained in a very interesting and potentially
precedent-setting case involving the DVD industry. It is one of 
the first and most significant cases involving the Digital 
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright, fair use, and the 
First Amendment. We represent a journalist who posted a de-encryption
code on his magazine's website that permits DVDs to be played on DVD
players without the otherwise necessary authorization software. 

We have been retained to represent Emmanuel Goldstein, a journalist
who posted DeCSS on his website, 2600.com. The website and his 16
year-old 2600 Magazine are long-standing and very respected media
commentators on the Internet and particularly "hackers" and hacking.

As it winds its way through the District Court, the Second Circuit and
the Supreme Court, this major lawsuit may be the litigation that
determines:

+ the constitutionality of the DMCA's very broad access prohibitions,

+ the application of the First Amendment to the DMCA and encryption,
+ and

+ the interaction or survival of Fair Use and DMCA 1201 (a)(2)

End excerpt

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