RE: [dvd-discuss] DVD Jon wins appeal

["Richard Hartman" <hartman(at)onetouch.com>]

> The new ruling was made by a panel of three professional 
> judges backed up 
> by four lay judges, two of whom had technical expertise 
> relevant to the case.

I like the inclusion of "lay judges" who have relevant 
technical expertise.  Too bad our courts don't to that . . .


-- 
-Richard M. Hartman
hartman@onetouch.com

186,000 mi/sec: not just a good idea, it's the LAW!



> -----Original Message-----
> From: James S. Tyre [mailto:jstyre@jstyre.com]
> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2003 8:34 AM
> To: dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
> Subject: [dvd-discuss] DVD Jon wins appeal
> 
> 
> Jon, if you're still reading this list, congratulations!
> 
> http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=696330
> 	
> 
> DVD-Jon wins new legal victory
> 
> Norway's most famous computer whiz got an early Christmas present on 
> Monday. An appeals court in Oslo upheld Jon Lech Johansen's earlier 
> acquittal on all counts of alleged copyright violations.
> 
> A verdict in the case, which has caught international 
> attention, wasn't 
> expected until early January. But the appeals court (Borgarting 
> lagmannsrett) apparently didn't see any need to wait with its 
> decision.
> 
> A panel of judges Monday cast aside the appeal that 
> prosecutors had filed 
> to a lower court decision handed down in January. That means 
> the lower 
> court's decision will stand, at least until another eventual 
> appeal takes 
> the case to Norway's supreme court.
> 
> The lower court had ruled that Johansen, now 20, did nothing 
> illegal when 
> he helped crack DVD copy protection codes in 1999 and then 
> publicized how 
> he did it. The prosecution had sought a suspended jail term, 
> confiscation 
> of his computer equipment and a fine of NOK 20,000 (less than 
> USD 3,000).
> 
> Prosecutors had put Johansen back on trial earlier this month 
> for his role 
> in creating a software solution that removes copy protection from DVD 
> films. He was dubbed "DVD-Jon" after he helped crack the copy 
> protection 
> code as a teenager and then published it on the Internet.
> 
> He became an instant hero to those who finally could watch 
> DVD films on 
> their computers instead of being forced to buy expensive DVD 
> players, but 
> he incurred the fury of some of the biggest players in the 
> entertainment 
> industry. It all turned into a classic "David and Goliath" 
> situation, with 
> Johansen ultimately facing prosecution by Norway's 
> white-collar crime unit 
> Oekokrim.
> 
> In January, Johansen won. An Oslo court cleared him of all 
> charges that his 
> role in creating the so-called "DeCSS" program was a 
> violation of copyright 
> and an invitation to wide-scale piracy.
> 
> Prosecutors appealed the verdict, only to be knocked down 
> once again by the 
> higher court.
> 
> The new ruling was made by a panel of three professional 
> judges backed up 
> by four lay judges, two of whom had technical expertise 
> relevant to the case.
> 
> Aftenposten English Web Desk
> Nina Berglund
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> James S. Tyre                               mailto:jstyre@jstyre.com
> Law Offices of James S. Tyre          310-839-4114/310-839-4602(fax)
> 10736 Jefferson Blvd., #512               Culver City, CA 90230-4969
> Co-founder, The Censorware Project             http://censorware.net
> 
>