Alleged DVD hacker pleads not guilty in decryption case



In an update to an ongoing story, News.com reported that Jon Johansen pleaded not guilty of making the software DeCSS, a DVD decryption program, that enables computers to copy movies from DVD. In a landmark case in Norway Jon is facing charges for creating the program and causing irrepairable damage to the movie industry. Jon allegedly created the program four years ago when he was 15 years old and released it on the internet, he is now 19 years old and employed as a computer programmer. News.com said:



A Norwegian teenager pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of illegally making software that copies movies, in a landmark case seen as a battle between cyber-Davids and corporate Goliaths.

Jon Johansen, known in Norway as "DVD Jon," is charged with helping to crack a code and develop and distribute a program--known as DeCSS--on the Internet that enables users to make unauthorized copies of DVD movies.



Jon has become a symbol worldwide for hackers who say that writing software, like DeCSS, is an excersise in intellectual freedom and creativitiy, and thus should not be punishable by law. You can read more on this at News.com or discuss this topic in the CDFreaks Living room.

Source: News.com

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