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Appeal Due in Norweigan DVD Trial
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posted by mpawlo
on Monday January 20, @08:51AM
from the jon-dvd dept.
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OKOKRIM will appeal the Jon-DVD trial.
As reported by Greplaw, Jon Johansen was acquitted in the Norweigan DVD-trial.
The Norweigan "Byrett" (district court) tried the Jon Johansen DVD case on December 9, 2002. The trial was supposed to take place the summer of 2002, but the court decided to postpone the trial to find a technology savvy judge. The case was tried by one judge and a panel of two lay assessors.
Jon Johansen was prosecuted by the Norwegian Economic Crime Unit (OKOKRIM) under Norwegian Criminal Code 145(2). Johansen took some part in the creation of the DeCSS software that can enable DVD playback on Linux. It was argued that the DeCSS software is a piracy tool.
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Norweigan daily Nettavisen reports that OKOKRIM will appeal the verdict. The last day of appeal is due tomorrow, but Rune Floisbann of OKOKRIM is quoted in Nettavisen stating that OKOKRIM will appeal. Jon Johansen's defense attorney Halvor Manshaus had yet to see the appeal when Nettavisen spoke to him, but he was not surprised to learn of OKOKRIM's intentions. The case as such is reportedly carrying a lot of prestige for OKOKRIM. Still, the case is not important as a precedent.
The law is about to be changed. Norway will follow the European Union and
the European Copyright Directive and will as a member of EEC implement a version of the WIPO Copyright Treaty, that also served as inspiration for
the U.S. Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Draft Norweigan legislation is
expected in February 2003. This will make the Jon-DVD case void as a
precedent, since the legislation most likeley will adopt the protection for
anti-circumvention devices in the WIPO Copyright Treaty.
I really do not want to be a Lessig kind of pessimist, but he is slowly starting to convince me of the color of the future. The color has a dark shade - that is if you do not consider strengthened copyright protection a good thing.
More in Nettavisen (only in Norweigan).
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