Trouble with Prime Numbers: DeCSS, DVD and the Protection of Proprietary Encryption Tools

[R. A. Hettinga]

--- begin forwarded text


Status: RO
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 13:39:23 -0500
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
From: Monty Solomon <monty at roscom.com>
Subject: Trouble with Prime Numbers: DeCSS, DVD and the Protection of
 Proprietary Encryption Tools


Trouble with Prime Numbers: DeCSS,
DVD and the Protection of
Proprietary Encryption Tools


Andrés Guadamuz González
Law Lecturer
University of Edinburgh
a.guadamuz at ed.ac.uk



Abstract

The DVD video format has become one of the most important
developments in the home entertainment market since the
popularisation of the magnetic video recording. The film industry
delivered this format with a built in security system which was
supposed to avoid illegal copying of the discs, much as what is
taking place with the music CD and the almost indiscriminate copying
of music into MP3 format over the Internet. This was achieved by
means of encryption technology.

This essay deals with the cracking of DVD encryption and its further
diffusion as a computer programme named DeCSS, which has been made
available over the Internet in various formats, including t-shirts
and a numerical representation of the code. There are three court
cases based on the online posting of this programme, two in the
United States and one in Norway. The article starts by describing the
technology involved, as it is felt by the author that some of these
technical issues are of importance to the legal implications of the
case and should be understood properly. The article then deals with
the developments in all of the three cases up to this date. The essay
then finishes with a look at the legal issues involved, including
hyper-linking, trade secrets, freedom of speech and the translation
of DeCSS into numerical format.



Keywords: Encryption, Prime Numbers, DVD, Hyper-linking, DeCSS



------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a Refereed article published on 6 December 2002.

Citation: Guadamuz A,'Trouble with Prime Numbers: DeCSS, DVD and the
Protection of Proprietary Encryption Tools', The Journal of
Information, Law and Technology (JILT) 2002 (3)
<http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/02-3/guadamuz.html>.
------------------------------------------------------------------------



http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/02-3/guadamuz.html

--- end forwarded text


-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cryptography Mailing List
Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo at wasabisystems.com