Hi all,
Further to the message from earlier today about DVD and DeCSS and
apparently co-incidental to it, I just received a letter from the MPAA
asking me to remove DeCSS from our site.
I've put the letter online in Microsoft Word and plain text and PDF format
at:
http://www.2600.org.au/mpaa-letter.doc
http://www.2600.org.au/mpaa-letter.pdf
http://www.2600.org.au/mpaa-letter.txt
I should say before pasting that I intend to tell these clowns that they
can shove their request where the sun does not regularly shine. The gall
of them suggesting that I, an Australian citizen, should fall into line
with a temporary injunction from a United States District Court (in the
Southern District of New York and in California), is just preposterous,
especially in light of the fact that the information is hosted in
Australia and that they would surely understand that the reach of their
law ends at the United States border with the Pacific Ocean (or even the
borders of New York and California?).
I urge any and all other Australians hosting the software to stand firm
against this kind of intimidation from an organisation that believes weak
encryption and flawed laws are designed to suppress fair use of their
copyrighted material by their customers (DeCSS is primarily for use as a
component of playback software running under the Linux and BSD operating
systems).
As to how they knew we had it, we're listed on the 2600.com site in the
USA as a source of it. I presume they are simply grabbing names off the
list and posting messages to each and every site owner.
Anyway, here's the letter:
Motion Picture Association
World Wide Anti-Piracy
15503 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91436
Phone: (818) 728-8127
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The AusMac Archive
P.O. Box 204
Oatley, MSW 2223
Australia
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fax: 61 42 888 2600
Date: February 24, 2000
RE: Illegal Provision of DeCSS/Circumvention Device
Site/URL: the.wiretapped.net/wt/dvd
MPA File#: 5-671-554
Dear AusMac Archive:
The Motion Picture Association is authorized to act on behalf of the
following copyright owners:
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Paramount Pictures Corporation
TriStar Pictures, Inc.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
United Artists Pictures, Inc.
United Artists Corporation
Universal City Studios, Inc.
Warner Bros., a Division of
Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P.
We have knowledge that the above-referenced Internet site is providing a
circumvention device commonly known as DeCSS. DeCSS is a software utility
that decrypts or unscrambles the contents of DVDs (consisting of
copyrighted motion pictures) or otherwise circumvents the protection
afforded by the Contents Scramble System (CSS) and permits the copying
of the DVD contents and/or any portion thereof. As such, DeCSS is an
unlawful circumvention device within the meaning of 17 U.S.C.
1201(a)(2),(3). Providing or offering DeCSS to the public on your system
or network violates the provisions of 1201(a)(2) which prohibits
the "manufacturing, importing or offering to the public, providing, or
otherwise trafficking" in an unlawful circumvention device.
On January 20, 2000, the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York granted a Preliminary Injunction prohibiting the
Internet posting or other provision of DeCSS, having found that DeCSS was
a prohibited circumvention device within the meaning of 1201(a)(2) and
that the offering, providing or trafficking of DeCSS on the Internet
violated 1201(a)(2). That court thus enjoined:
Posting on any Internet web site, or in any other way manufacturing,
importing or offering to the public, providing, or otherwise trafficking
in DeCSS, and (b) posting on any Internet web site, or in any other way
manufacturing, importing or offering to the public, providing, or
otherwise trafficking in any technology, product, service, device,
component, or part thereof, that: (i) is primarily designed or produced
for the purpose of circumventing, or circumvention the protection afforded
by, CSS, or any other technological measure that effectively controls
access to plaintiffs' copyrighted works or effectively protects the
plaintiffs' rights to control whether an end user can reproduce,
manufacture, adapt, publicly perform and/or distribute unauthorized copies
of their copyrighted works or portions thereof. . .
The Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California also recently granted
a Preliminary Injunction against the Internet posting of DeCSS.
If you are bound by an injunction, maintaining the DeCSS utility on your
system or network violates the above injunction[s] and risks court
sanctions for contempt.
We hereby demand that you:
1) take appropriate steps to cause immediate removal of DeCSS from the
above identified URL, along with such other actions as may be necessary or
appropriate to suspend this illegal activity;
2) provide appropriate notice to the subscriber or account holder
responsible for the presence of DeCSS on your system or network, advising
him/her of the contents of this notice and directing that person to
contact the undersigned immediately at the e-mail address provided above;
3) advise us of the name and physical address of the person operating this
site; and
4) maintain, and take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the
destruction of, all records, including electronic records, in your
possession or control respecting this URL, account holder or subscriber.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Your immediate response is
requested.
The information in this notification is accurate, and we declare, under
penalty of perjury, that the Motion Picture Association is authorized to
act on behalf of the owner[s] of exclusive rights described above.
Should you have any questions, please contact us at the above listed
address.
Respectfully,
The Motion Picture Association
-------------------------------------------------------
Grant Bayley [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-IT Manager @ Batey Kazoo (www.kazoo.com.au)
-Admin @ AusMac Archive, Wiretapped.net, 2600 Australia
www.ausmac.net www.wiretapped.net www.2600.org.au
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