DVD Copyright Case Goes to Court

A rogue hacker magazine is gearing to fight round two against The Motion Picture Association of America Tuesday, arguing a court appeal that gnaws at the heart of copyright and free-speech issues.

2600:The Hacker Quarterly, a telephone- and computer-hacker magazine, is expected to argue that the U.S. Department of Justice has overstretched its interpretation of the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DOJ recently ruled the magazine could not publish or provide online links to a source code that descrambles DVD encryption.

The decryption code, called DeCSS (short for De Contents Scramble System), was originally intended to descramble DVD encryption so people could play DVDs on Linux-based systems. The MPAA, an umbrella group for eight powerful Hollywood studios, considers publishing the code a direct threat to movies' copyright privileges. The MPAA argues that by providing the descrambling code, the magazine was virtually offering the key to steal protected materials.

At the crux of the battle is the DMCA, a 1998 law that prohibits cracking access codes and is designed to protect digitally recorded material such as movies, software and books from illegal distribution. The MPAA is crying foul under the DMCA. But the magazine, with support from the nonprofit civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argues the Act is being interpreted too broadly and is beginning to elbow aside First Amendment rights.

Clash of Rights

In its brief to New York's 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, 2600 invokes the First Amendment. The publication argues that it was "providing truthful information about a matter of public significance," which is Constitutionally protected speech. Outlawing the circulation of this type of information leads to self-censorship, the magazine's lawyers contend.

DMCA has been at the center of a maelstrom of debate as opponents argue that the Act inhibits computer science research and steps on the toes of fair use rules, which let the public use copyrighted material for noncommercial purposes.

One of the most recent spats over DMCA came last week, when the Secure Digital Music Initiative asked a professor to not publish his findings in the group's hacking challenge. Princeton University professor Edward Felten and his team were one of only two groups that cracked the watermark technology SDMI presented in a hacking challenge. The organization claimed publication would violate the DMCA, and the professor demurred to SDMI's request. Some DMCA opponents are using the case as evidence that the Act stymies academic research.

The DMCA is also the thorn in the side of the high-profile online song swapping service Napster. Its case has raised myriad questions about where fair use begins and copyright protection ends.

Any and all of these concerns could be addressed in the 2600 appeal. The studios are standing strong for movies' copyright protection, and the magazine is touting First Amendment rights.