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posted by mpawlo
on Tuesday August 06, @08:39AM
from the your-code-is-mine dept.
The Norweigan "Byrett" (district court) will try the Jon Johansen DVD case on December 9, 2002. The trial was supposed to take place this summer, but the court decided to postpone the trial to find a technology savvy judge. The case will be tried by one judge and a panel of two lay assessors.
Jon Johansen is being prosecuted by the Norwegian Economic Crime Unit (OKOKRIM) under Norwegian Criminal Code 145(2). Johansen created DeCSS software that can enable DVD playback on Linux. It is argued that the DeCSS software is a piracy tool.
Jon Johansen: I'm 16 now, I was 15 when it happened ... and the
encryption code wasn't in fact written by me, but written by the
German member. There seems to be a bit of confusion about that part.
LinuxWorld: The other two people that you had worked with to make
the player are remaining anonymous -- is that right?
Jon Johansen: Yes, that is correct.
...
LinuxWorld: Do you know why they want to remain anonymous?
Jon Johansen: They are both a lot older than me, and they are
employed. So I guess they just didn't want the publicity, and they
were perhaps afraid of getting fired.
I just discovered Digi.no's coverage [www.digi.no] of this case. It currently doesn't say much more than my story above, but knowing the high quality of Digi.no's reporting I am sure the journalists would most probably update the story during the week. I'll keep you posted of any news in this regard. Scandivians should - of course - check Digi.no.
Discussion on the case [gnuheter.com] over at Swedish Gnuheter. Some are thinking about arranging a protest in connection with the trial, but Scandinavian courts are very rarely impressed by such activities.
Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be
lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.
- Isaac Asimov