2600 kicks in the defence

By Staff Writers
00:00 Jan 1, 1900
Tags: 2600 | kicks | in | the | defence

Careers in Defence

Hacker e-zine 2600.com is about to appeal a legal ruling barring it from publishing the infamous DeCCS code. 2600.com is rebutting claims made by the Motion Picture Industry Association of America

Hacker e-zine 2600.com is about to appeal a legal ruling barring it from publishing the infamous DeCCS code. 2600.com is rebutting claims made by the Motion Picture Industry Association of America wherein the MPAA claimed that publishing or even linking to DeCSS, a DVD encryption de-scrambler, was against copyright law. The court ruled against 2600.com, and now the appeal process is beginning.

2600.com lawyers are using the 'public interest' defense, that as 2600 is a news service, it has a right to publish truthful material that is in the public's best interest. Precedent established in 1989 states that a lawful publication is free under such circumstances to publish material like the DeCSS code - basically, the people have a right to know. The could be the first big blow against the widely feared and despised Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the law under which the MPAA took 2600.com to court.

The real kicker here is that the to further rule against 2600.com the court must do one of two things - either declare that 2600 is not a publisher, or to rule that every publisher is restricted in publishing information regarding digital copyright. The latter move would be a stepping dangerously close to the toes of the US's beloved First Amendment, and 2600.com's lawyers are betting that no Judge will want to start curbing freedom of speech in such a broad manner.
Read 2600's legal brief here

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Issue: 133 | February, 2012

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