FITUG e.V. Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

MPAA v. 2600

------- 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 Two of the three defendants have withdrawn under consent agreements, leaving only the magazine 2600, which succeeds its publisher, Emmanuel Goldstein, as defendant.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

------- End of forwarded message ------- Zurück