Hollywood
tries to block DVD decoder
WSJ
Interactive Edition © 2000
UPDATED April 6, 2000 9:35 AM PT
Seven major studios return to court to
stop Eric Corley from posting links to a program that
allows users to decode encrypted DVD disks.
NEW YORK -- The major Hollywood
studios filed a motion in New York federal court seeking
to block a controversial Web site from posting links to
other Web sites where users can download a program that
decodes encrypted material on digital video disks.
The seven major Hollywood studios,
through its trade group, the Motion Picture Association
of America, have been waging a legal battle against Eric
Corley and his company, 2600 Enterprises, to keep him
from posting links to a software program on his Internet
site that enables people to copy DVD movies. The studios
are worried that rampant copying of DVD movies will
undermine the home-entertainment market, one of
Hollywood's biggest revenue sources.
On Jan. 20, U.S. District Court Judge
Lewis Kaplan issued an injunction against Corley and two
other Web sites prohibiting them from posting the
software that allows people to decode encrypted DVDs.
But the MPAA says Corley has been "maneuvering
around" that injunction by posting links to more
than 300 other Web sites that still carry the
downloadable program, thus undermining the court's
order.
Martin Garbus, an attorney for Corley,
said he hadn't yet read the petition and therefore
couldn't comment. The decryption program, known as DeCSS,
is banned under the provisions of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, says the MPAA.
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