DeCSS

. DeCSS is one of the first free computer programs capable of decrypting commercially produced DVD-Video discs. Before the release of DeCSS, free and open source operating systems (such as BSD and Linux) could not play encrypted video DVDs. DeCSS's development was done without a license from the DVD Copy Control Association (CCA), the organization responsible for the Content Scramble System (CSS) used to protect commercial DVD discs. The release of DeCSS resulted in a Norwegian criminal trial and subsequent acquittal of one of the authors of DeCSS. DVD CCA launched numerous lawsuits in the United States in an effort to stop the distribution of the software.

. DeCSS is one of the first free computer programs capable of decrypting commercially produced DVD-Video discs. Before the release of DeCSS, free and open source operating systems (such as BSD and Linux) could not play encrypted video DVDs. DeCSS's development was done without a license from the DVD Copy Control Association (CCA), the organization responsible for the Content Scramble System (CSS) used to protect commercial DVD discs. The release of DeCSS resulted in a Norwegian criminal trial and subsequent acquittal of one of the authors of DeCSS. DVD CCA launched numerous lawsuits in the United States in an effort to stop the distribution of the software. ===Jon Lech Johansen's involvement=== The DeCSS program was a collaborative project, in which Johansen wrote the graphical user interface. The transcripts from the Borgarting Court of Appeal, published in the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang, contain the following description of the process which led to the release of DeCSS: Through Internet Relay Chat (henceforth IRC), [Jon Lech Johansen] made contact with like-minded [people seeking to develop a DVD-player under the Linux operating system]. 11 September 1999, he had a conversation with "mdx" about how the encryption algorithm in CSS could be found, by using a poorly secured software-based DVD-player. In a conversation [between Jon Lech Johansen and "mdx"] 22 September, "mdx" informs that "the nomad" had found the code for CSS decryption, and that "mdx" now would send this [code] to Jon Lech Johansen. "The nomad" allegedly found this decryption algorithm through so-called reverse engineering of a Xing DVD-player, where the [decryption] keys were more or less openly accessible. Through this, information that made it possible [for "mdx"] to create the code CSS_scramble.cpp was retrieved. From chat logs dated 4 November 1999 and 25 November 1999, it appears that "the nomad" carried through the reverse engineering process on a Xing player, which he characterized as illegal. As the case is presented for the High Court, this was not known by Jon Lech Johansen before 4 November [1999]. Regarding the authentication code, the High Court takes for its basis that "the nomad" obtained this code through the electronic mailing list LiVid (Linux Video) on the Internet, and that it was created by Derek Fawcus. It appears through a LiVid posting dated 6 October 1999 that Derek Fawcus on this date read through the DeCSS source code and compared it with his own. Further, it appears that "the creators [of DeCSS] have taken [Derek Fawcus' code] almost verbatim - the only alteration was the removal of [Derek Fawcus'] copyright header and a paragraph containing commentaries, and a change of the function names." The name [of the code] was CSS_auth.cpp. The High Court takes for its basis that the program Jon Lech Johansen later programmed, the graphical user interface, consisted of "the nomad's" decryption algorithm and Derek Fawcus' authentication package. The creation of a graphical user interface made the program accessible, also for users without special knowledge in programming. The program was published on the Internet for the first time 6 October 1999, after Jon Lech Johansen had tested it on the movie "The Matrix." In this, he downloaded approximately 2.5%. 200 megabytes, of the movie to the hard drive on his computer. This file is the only film fragment Jon Lech Johansen has saved on his computer. ==See also== qrpff AACS encryption key controversy Illegal prime youtube-dl ==References==

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1375535967 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.