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Links to Illegal Material / Liability

DeCSS – Cases: Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Reimerdes and  DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Andrew Bunner - International Reserve Inc. v. Tanners - Bernstein v. J.C Penney - Nottinghamshire County Council v. Journalists - IFPI Schweden v. Tommy Olssen - Direct links into Peer-2-Peer networks - Austropersonal.com / Jobmonitor.com - Sir Elton John v. Countess Joulebine - Warez.at - Google v. Scientology - Deutsche Bahn v. AltaVista, Google, Yahoo - Deutsche Bahn v. XS4ALL - Deutsche Bahn v. Indymedia.nl - Lucasfilm v. Aldera.net / NaboOnline - Cyber Patrol - MP3Board v. RIAA - Scientology v. Spaink - Microsoft v. Slashdot - IFPI v. Fast Search / Lycos - Suhrkamp v. Kantel - UCSD v. Student Group - Google v. Illegal Contents - IFPI China MyWeb Inc.com

DeCSS – Cases: Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Reimerdes and  DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Andrew Bunner

It started in 1999 when Norwegian teen Jon Johansen created DeCSS to descramble DVDs so that they could be played on PCs running the Linux operating system. DeCSS, which can break the encryption on almost any DVD, was posted on several websites shortly after. Despite the DVD CCA and the motion picture industry's anti-piracy task force sending notices to dozens of Web site operators demanding the information be removed, the dissemination of the program could not be stopped effectively.

Eight major motion picture companies filed injunction complaints in New York against three alleged hackers to prevent them from publishing DeCSS and later to stop them from linking to hundreds of mirror websites containing DeCSS. Defendant's attorneys argued that posting of DeCSS was protected under the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and the press. Judge Kaplan's August 2000 93-page ruling prevents defendants from not only distributing copies of DeCSS, but also from linking to Websites where it resides. The decision was upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Defendants announced that they will not seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the court order, ending the two-and-a-half year legal battle over DeCSS in New York.

The DVD Copy Control Association brought a lawsuit against 72 hackers and Website authors and succeeded in seeking a court order in California that prevents the defendants from continuing to post the DeCSS program. But they failed to enjoy defendants from linking to it. In November 2001, the Appellate Court ruled in Defendant's favor, finding that the lower court violated his First Amendment rights when it forced him to remove DeCSS from his website. The DVD Copy Control Association has appealed to the California Supreme Court to challenge the appeals panel ruling.  

January 2003 Update:

Norwegian teenager Jon Johansen, the creator of a computer program that enables unauthorised copying of DVDs, was acquitted of all charges against him in a Norwegian court.

According to a ruling from the California Supreme Court in November 2002, Andrew Brunner can not be sued in a California court, because he resides in Texas: "the mere posting of information on a passive Internet Web site, which is accessible from anywhere but is directed at no particular audience, cannot be an action targeted at a particular (state)." 

The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted a temporary stay that barred Brunner from posting DeCSS on the internet, ending the DVD Copy Control Association's effort to keep the California Supreme Court ruling from taking effect.

February 2003 Update:

Norwegian prosecutors are appealing the court ruling that acquitted 19-year-old Jon Lech Johansen of charges for creating DeCSS.

News Articles  

• April 1, 2003: DVD Hacker muss Ende des Jahres erneut vor Gericht, Heise:
  "Ein norwegisches Gericht hat den Termin für die Berufungsverhandlung gegen Jon Lech Johansen auf Anfang Dezember 2003 gelegt."

• March 4, 2003: Gericht lässt Berufung gegen Freispruch für DVD-Hacker zu, Heise:
  "Der Norweger Jon Lech Johansen, der im Januar von einem Gericht vom Vorwurf der rechtswidrigen Umgehung des DVD-Kopierschutzes freigesprochen worden war, muss erneut vor Gericht."

• March 3, 2003: Leyden, John, DVD Jon faces summer retrial, The Register:
  "Norwegian teenager, Jon Lech Johansen, is to be tried again by an appeal court this summer despite being cleared of cyber piracy crimes earlier this year, his lawyer confirmed last Friday." 

• January 22, 2003: "DVD-Jon" may face retrial, Europemedia.net:
  "Jon Johansen, aka ‘DVD Jon’, who was acquitted earlier this month of piracy charges by a Norwegian court, may effectively face a re-trial after prosecutors decided to appeal the verdict." 

• January 21, 2003: "DVD-Jon" faces retrial, Aftenposten:
  "Norway's special division for white-collar crimes, Økokrim, has decided to appeal the acquittal of 19-year-old Jon Lech Johansen, accused of copyright violation for helping bypass DVD code protection, web site Nettavisen reports."

• January 21, 2003: Leyden, John, Prosecutors appeal DVD Jon innocent verdict, The Register:
  "Norwegian prosecutors are appealing the court ruling that cleared teenager Jon Lech Johansen of criminal charges for creating a utility for playing back DVDs on his own computer."

• January 9, 2003: Bowman, Lisa, Norway piracy case brings activists hope, ZDNet:
  "The acquittal of a teen who axed copyright protections on a DVD has activists hoping views toward code crackers are changing."

• January 8, 2003: O'Brian, Timothy, Norwegian Hacker, 19, Is Aquitted in DVD Piracy Case, New York Times

• January 7, 2003: Freispruch für DVD Hacker, Heise:
  "Im Prozess um den Norweger Jon Johansen ist das Urteil gefallen."

• January 4, 2003: Oberstes US-Gericht befasst sich nicht mit DeCSS, Heise:
  "Der oberste Gerichtshof der USA will sich mit dem andauernden Rechtsstreit um das DVD-Hacker-Tool DeCSS nicht befassen."

• January 3, 2003: McCullagh, Declan, Supreme Court backs off DVD case, CNet:
  "The U.S. Supreme Court has bowed out of a long-running dispute over a DVD descrambling utility, dealing a preliminary defeat to Hollywood studios and electronics makers."

• January 3, 2003: McCullagh, Declan, Supreme Court reverses course on DeCSS case, ZDNet:
  "The U.S. Supreme Court has bowed out of a long-running dispute over a DVD descrambling utility, dealing a preliminary defeat to Hollywood studios and electronics makers."

• January 2, 2003: Juristisches Hickhack im DeCSS-Prozeß geht weiter, Heise:
  "Nachdem sich im November das Hacker-Magazin 2600 entschlossen hatte, den Rechtsstreit um das DVD-Hacker-Tool "DeCSS" nicht vor den obersten US-Gerichtshof zu bringen, landet ein kalifornisches Verfahren um DeCSS nun wohl doch dort."

• December 17, 2002: Reuters, "DVD Jon" DeCSS trial ends, ZDNet

• December 12, 2002: Leyden, John, DeCSS show trial opens in Oslo, The Register
  "The trial of a Norwegian teen accused of developing a utility that enables people to illegally copy DVD movies opened in Oslo yesterday." 

• December 9, 2002: McCullagh, Declan, Alleged DeCSS hacker faces two years, ZDNet:
  Jon Johansen, a Norwegian teen, goes on trial Monday for allegedly bypassing DVD anti-copying technology

• November 25, 2002: California Court Cannot Lasso Texas Resident into DVD Case, EFF:
  The California Supreme Court today ruled that a Texas resident who published a software program on the Internet cannot be forced to stand trial in California. 

• August 13, 2002: Norwegians scramble for tech savvy DeCSS judge, The Register:
  The trial of the teenage Norwegian programmer accused of creating the DeCSS "piracy tool" has been delayed until December 9 this year. 

• July 4, 2002: Streit um DeCSS geht nicht vor obersten Gerichtshof, Heise:
  Das Hacker-Magazin 2600 hat sich entschlossen, den Rechtsstreit um das DVD-Hacker-Tool "DeCSS" nicht vor den obersten US-Gerichtshof zu bringen.

• July 3, 2002: EFF, 2600 give up: Won’t appeal loss in DVD descrambling case, Politech

• December 14, 2001: Kaplan, Carl, Experts Say Decision Could Undermine Online Journalists, New York Times:
  "Free speech advocates are worried that a recent federal appeals decision could have a chilling effect on online journalists who use hyperlinks to direct readers to relevant, newsworthy sites that contain illegal material."

• November 29, 2001: McCullagh, Declan, Copyright Law Foes Lose Big, Wired:
  "The appeals panel ruled 3-0 to uphold an August 2000 decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan that barred 2600 magazine from distributing a DVD-descrambling utility."

• November 2, 2001: US-Gericht: Veröffentlichung des DeCSS-Codes rechtmäßig, Heise:
  "Ein kalifornisches Berufungsgericht hat entschieden, dass der Code des DVD-Hackertools DeCSS veröffentlicht werden darf – und das auch im Internet."

• November 2, 2001: Lyman, Jay, Court Rules DVD Code Crack Is Free Speech, NewsFactor:
  "A three-judge appellate court in California has ruled that a published DVD code crack is constitutionally protected free speech."

• August 7, 2001: Hu, Jim, Out-of-state resident can be sued in DVD case, CNet:
  "An out-of-state resident who allegedly posted computer code that circumvents DVD encryption measures can be sued under California law, a California appeals court ruled Tuesday."

• May 31, 2001: McCullagh, Declan, A Constitutional Right to Decode?, Wired:
  "To the movies studios trying to rid the Net of a DVD-descrambling program, the "DeCSS" utility is akin to terrorware that governments have a responsibility to prohibit."

• May 11, 2001: Harmon, Amy, Judges Seek Answers on Computer Code as Free Speech, New York Times:
  "In what may signal a heightened significance for a case testing the constitutionality of a 1998 digital copyright law, a panel of appeals court judges has asked both sides of a case to answer a list of 11 questions on whether computer code can qualify as free speech."

• May 4, 2001: Kaplan, Carl, Questioning Continues in Copyright Suit, New York Times:
  "The lawyers representing Corley, the target of a suit brought by eight leading Hollywood movie studios in a closely watched digital encryption case, did not have a pleasant time of it on Tuesday morning before a three-judge federal appeals panel in Manhattan."

• May 3, 2001: Durham-Vichr, Deborah, DVD Lawsuit: High Noon for Hackers, NewsFactor:
  " Following Tuesday's oral arguments and additional briefs that must be filed by May 10th, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals will have as long as a year to make a final ruling in the case between Hollywood's Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and hacker quarterly 2600 over the right to link to a utility that unscrambles DVD encryption."

• May 2, 2001: DeCSS-Prozess: Hollywood in der Übermacht, Heise:
  "Bei der gestrigen Anhörung im Revisionsverfahren des New Yorker DeCSS-Prozesses standen die Vorzeichen für die Verteidigung nicht besonders gut:"

• May 2, 2001: Federal appeals panel takes up DVD-copying software case, Freedom Forum Online:
  "In a case testing the scope of copyright law in the digital age, a federal appeals court panel questioned yesterday whether software that can decrypt digital movies should be considered free speech."

• May 2, 2001: Greene, Thomas, DVD decoding-as-speech fails to impress court, The Register:
  "The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is "a kind of digital straight-jacket" violating the rights of individuals to make fair use of copyrighted materials, Stanford University Law School Dean Kathleen Sullivan argued to the Second Circuit US Court of Appeals in Manhattan Tuesday." 

• May 1, 2001: DVD-copying case heads back to court, USA Today:
  "The publisher of a hacker magazine will return to court Tuesday to appeal a court ruling sought by Hollywood movie studios that could erect new barriers for what material is legal to link to on the Web."

• May 1, 2001: McCullagh, Declan: DVD Piracy Judges Resolute, Wired:
  "A trio of federal judges lobbed sharp questions on Tuesday at a law school dean who argued it should be legal to distribute a DVD-descrambling utility."

• May 1, 2001: Hu, Jim / Bowman, Lisa, DVD trial: “Napsterization” of Hollywood?, ZDNet:
  "A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday heard arguments and responded with numerous questions about a far-reaching case over the rights of online publishers to link to controversial material."

• May 1, 2001: McCullagh, Declan, Hackers vs. Hollywood, the Sequel, Wired:
  "Music industry lawyers plan to tell a federal appeals court that a DVD-descrambling program is primarily useful to hackers and should be outlawed."

• April 30, 2001: Snider, Mike, Free speech will be focus of DVD battle, USA Today:
  "Attorneys for a small hackers' journal again face off against lawyers for Hollywood studios in federal appeals court Tuesday in New York to argue the magazine's right to publish and create Web links to software that decodes films on DVD discs."

• April 29, 2001: DeCSS-Prozess geht in die zweite Runde, Heise:
  "Am Dienstag geht das Gerichtsverfahren gegen die Website 2600.com in die zweite Runde."

• April 27, 2001: Kaplan, Carl, Does an Anti-Piracy Plan Quash the First Amendment? NY Times:
  "There's a long-accepted notion in the publishing world that between the right of an author to control the uses of his book and the right of a reader to engage in free speech is the safety valve known as "fair use."

• April 2, 2001: Mariani, Gwendolyn, Stanford Law dean battles DeCSS, CNet:
  "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says the dean of Stanford Law School will join the defense team for a hacker magazine in an Internet free-speech and copyright lawsuit."

• March 7, 2001: McCullagh, Declan, Descramble That DVD in 7 Lines, Wired:
  "Descrambling DVDs just got even easier, thanks to a pair of MIT programmers."

• February 26, 2001: Industrie-Anwälte publizieren DeCSS-Code, Futurezone:
  "Die Anwälte der "Motion Pictures Association of America" [MPAA] haben versehentlich den Kopierschutz-Crack DeCSS einer ungebremsten und legalen weiteren Verbreitung zugeführt."

• February 22, 2001: Bowman, Lisa, DOJ stands with film industry in DVD cracking case, CNet:
  "Uncle Sam is siding with the movie industry in a case that prevents a magazine from posting and linking to software that makes it possible to decrypt DVD security."

• February 22, 2001: McCullagh, Declan, White House Sides With Studios, Wired:
  "The Bush administration is siding with Hollywood in a federal lawsuit against a DVD-descrambling utility."

• January 26, 2001: McCullagh, Declan, DeCSS Allies Ganging Up, Wired:
  "A federal court decision that restricted a DVD-descrambling program ignores free speech rights and should be overturned, eight different coalitions claim."

• January 24, 2001: Bowman, Lisa, ISP takes stand in dispute over DVD-cracking code, CNet:
  "In a move that free-speech activists hope will be trendsetting, Internet service provider Verio is standing up to the movie industry by refusing to remove a Web site the Motion Picture Association of America alleges is illegal."

• December 14, 2000: Hansen, Evan, Hollywood dealt setback in DVD code case, CNet:
  "The motion picture industry's effort to ban computer code that subverts its DVD encryption scheme has suffered a setback in California, with the state's high court issuing an order that could see many of the defendants dropped from the closely watched case."

• November 17, 2000: McCullagh, Declan: DVD Piracy Judge Tells All, Wired:
  "U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan doesn't truly dislike hackers and open-source programmers, not exactly."

• October 30, 2000: Harmon, Amy, Copyright Office Backs Digital Law, New York Times:
  "In a decision giving copyright holders greater control over the way people use books, movies and music that are distributed in digital form, the United States Copyright Office on Friday endorsed a new federal law making it illegal to break the technological safeguards for such works."

• October 14, 2000: Amis, Davis, Judge Says Link is Both Legal and Illegal, Internet Freedom:
  "Ruling on a case in the US, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan decides that the same link can be legal for one site but illegal for another."

• September 21, 2000: Hansen, Evan, DVD lawyers spill "secret" code, CNet:
  "A digital rights licensing group seeking to ban the controversial DVD decryption program known as DeCSS has shut down yet another potential distributor: a California state courthouse."

• September 15, 2000: Walls, Nathan, EFF takes its DVD case to Linuy users, looking to raise fund, NewsForge:
  "After spending more in 2000 on litigation than its entire 1999 operating budget, the Electronic Frontier Foundation says it needs more funds to keep the DeCSS fight going."

• September 8, 2000: Hintergrund: Gute und böse Links, Heise:
  "Am 17. August knallten bei der Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) die Korken: Richter Lewis Kaplan vom District Court for the Southern District of New York entschied den Fall MPAA gegen Eric Corley, der unter dem Pseudonym Emmanuel Goldstein die Hacker-Zeitschrift 2600 herausgibt, für die Filmindustrie."

• September 8, 2000: Kaplan, Carl, Cyber Law Journal: Assessing Linking Liability, New York Times
  "According to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, a link can be bad or good. It mainly turns on whether the linker's intent is laudable or not."

• August 23, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Only News That's Fit to Link, Wired:
  "Internet journalists, beware: A recent ruling by a federal judge could imperil your ability to place hyperlinks in some news articles."

• August 18, 2000: Die Filmindustrie hat einen ersten Sieg erzielt, Heise:
  "Im New Yorker Prozess wurde dem Angeklagten verboten, den Code von DeCSS, dem Umgehungsprogramm für die DVD-Verschlüsselung, zu veröffentlichen oder Hyperlinks auf Websites mit dem Programm zu legen."

• August 18, 2000: Sullivan, John: Movie Industry Wins a Round in DVD Copyright Case, New York Times:
  "A federal judge in Manhattan ruled today that a Web site operator cannot distribute a computer program used to crack codes that prevent the piracy of movies."

• August 18, 2000: Cave, Damien, DeCSS judge: Code isn't free speech, Salon.com:
  "MPAA president Jack Valenti cheers the decision. Next stop: Appeals court."

• August 17, 2000: McCullagh, Declan: Studios Score DeCSS Victory, Wired:
  "Comparing the DeCSS utility to a "common-source outbreak epidemic," U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said "there is little room for doubting that broad dissemination of DeCSS threatens ultimately to injure or destroy plaintiffs' ability to distribute their copyrighted products on DVDs, and, for that matter, undermine their ability to sell their products to the home video market in other forms."

• August 17, 2000: Costello, Sam, DVD ruling may have profound implications, InfoWorld:
  "WHAT MAY BECOME one of the most important rulings in the history of the Internet was handed down late Thursday by a U.S. federal judge who issued a permanent injunction barring Web sites from linking to others that contain illegal code, such as De-Content Scrambling System (DeCSS) in some instances."

• August 2, 2000: Manjoo, Farhad, Court to Address DeCSS T-Shirt, Wired:
  "When can a T-shirt become a trade secret?"

• August 2, 2000: Howe, Jeff, Fate of Hackers’ Hero Now in Judge’s Hands, The Village Voice:
  "It's been a long, strange trip for Eric Corley, a/k/a Emmanuel Goldstein, the publisher of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly and subject of Hollywood's litigious ire."

• July 28, 2000: Raymond, Eric, The Two Faces, Linux Journal:
  "DeCSS. Napster. These are two faces of a revolution"

• July 27, 2000: Durham-Vichr, Deborah, Focus on the DeCSS trial, CNN:
   "Linux came to the forefront of the ongoing DeCSS trial late last week."

• July 21, 2000: Kaplan, Carl, Norwegian Teenager Appears at Hacker Trial He Sparked, New York Times:
  "Yesterday the mild-looking young man, Jon Johansen, was the focus of attention in Judge Lewis A. Kaplan's courtroom in federal court in Manhattan."

• July 21, 2000: Medosch, Armin, DVD-Prozess: Showdown im Gerichtssaal, Telepolis:
  "Die Hauptverhandlung im Prozess von acht Hollywood-Studios gegen Emmanuel Goldstein, bürgerlich Eric Corley, Herausgeber des Magazins 2600 Hacker Quarterly und der zugehörigen [External Link] Website, führte am gestrigen vierten Verhandlungstag neben den obligatorischen harten Bandagen auch zu einigen blumigen Vergleichen."

• July 20, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Teen Hacking Idol Hits Big Apple, Wired:
  "The Norwegian teen hacker may testify Thursday in a landmark trial over the DVD-descrambling program he wrote, which Hollywood hopes to ban from the Internet."

• July 18, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Movie Studios on the Warpath, Wired:
  "Hollywood escalated its attack on hackers Tuesday, arguing in court that 2600 magazine was complicit in promoting the piracy of DVDs."

• July 18, 2000: Harmon, Amy, Movie Studios Seek to Stop DVD Copies, New York Times:
  "On the first day of a case that could test the limits of Hollywood's control over its digital properties, lawyers for eight movie studios yesterday urged a federal judge to stop a Web site operator from distributing a software program that unscrambles the encryption on DVD movie disks."

• July 17, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, DeCSS Lawyers Press MPAA, Wired:
  "Pirating DVDs on the Internet is not nearly as easy as the entertainment industry claims, attorneys for 2600 magazine suggested during cross-examination Monday."

• July 17, 2000: DVD trial pits film studios against hackers, USA Today

• July 14, 2000: Kaplan, Carl, DVD Case Will Test Reach of Digital Copyright Law, New York Times:
  "An important Internet case pitting Hollywood's right to control access to its digital wares against the traditional rights to fair use of copyright and free speech is scheduled to get under way in federal court in Manhattan on Monday."

• June 14, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Movie Chief Mum on DVD Piracy, Wired

• June 7, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, DVD Mediation Sans Media, Wired:
  "Reporters may not attend the depositions of movie industry representatives in a lawsuit over DVD viewing software, a federal judge ruled late Tuesday."

• May 16, 2000: King, Brad, Tuning Up Digital Copyright Law, Wired:
  "The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 was supposed to clear up copyright issues in the Internet era."

• May 15, 2000: DeCSS Gag Injunction Appealed, Wired:
  "Hoping to overturn a preliminary injunction order barring publication of DeCSS software on dozens of websites, the Electronic Frontier Foundation appealed the order to the California Sixth Appellate Court Monday."

• May 4, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Link Ban 'Threatens Free Speech', Wired:
  "A federal judge should not order 2600.com to yank hyperlinks to the DeCSS program from its website because it "would constitute a gross prior restraint of speech," 2600 magazine says in court documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York."

• April 6, 2000: Cave, Damien, Can hyperlinks be outlawed?, Salon:
  "Movie studios aim to criminalize links to DeCSS, a banned DVD-decryption program."

• April 5, 2000: Patrizio, Andy, MPAA Sues to Stopp DeCSS Linking, Wired:
  "The Motion Picture Association of America is taking another shot at silencing 2600.com publisher Eric Corley, aka Emmanuel Goldstein."

• March 8, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, DVD Battle Heats Up, Wired:
  "In the trench warfare between the motion picture industry and the Linux and hacker communities, it's pretty obvious who can afford to spend the most on lawyers."

• March 7, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, DVD Wars: Defense Rallies, Wired:
  "The team of lawyers fighting a trio of DVD lawsuits has filed documents outlining the strategy they plan to use against the motion picture industry in court."

• February 9, 2000: Ananian, Scott, Criminal Code?, Salon:
  "A judge's decision to ban a DVD-playing Linux program and all discussion about it outrages the free-software community."

• February 3, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Judge Rags on DVD Hackers, Wired:
  "The New York judge who ordered that a controversial DVD viewing program be yanked from the Net thinks the hacking community has put on a very poor case."

• January 28, 2000: Burke, Lynn: DVD Case: It's a Linux Thing, Wired:
  "As the fight between a bunch of hackers and the motion picture industry continues to escalate on an international scale, one fact is becoming pretty clear: The DVD guys and the movie people are just creaming the hackers."

• January 28, 2000: Schulzki-Haddouti, Christiane, Die rechtlichen Konsequenzen des DeCSS-Falls, Telepolis:
  "Ein Interview mit Axel Horns, Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft [External Link] (FITUG), zu den rechtlichen Konsequenzen des DeCSS-Falls und der Frage, wie deutsche Richter in diesem Fall entschieden hätten."

• January 26, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, DVD Lawyers Make Secret Public, Wired:
  "Lawyers representing the DVD industry got caught in an embarrassing gaffe when they filed a lawsuit and accidentally publicized the computer code they wanted to keep secret."

• January 25, 2000: Burke, Lynn: Teen Hacker's Home Raided, Wired:
   "The home of a 16-year-old Norwegian hacker, who has become the Helen of Troy of the hacking world, was raided Monday."

• January 25, 2000: Norwegian teen raided by police in DVD suit, CNN:
  "Police on Monday raided the home of Jon Johansen, the Norwegian programmer who reverse-engineered the DVD Content Scrambling System (CSS) to allow DVD playback on computers running the Linux operating system."

• January 24, 2000: Macavinta, Courtney, Court blocks online publishing of DVD decryption tool, Cnet:
  "A California court has temporarily barred numerous individuals and Web sites from posting online a program that disables the security on DVD movies."

• January 22, 2000: Rötzer, Florian, Bedenklicher Kreuzzug für den Ausbau des Copyrights, Telepolis:
  "Die zwei Gerichtsverfahren gegen die Betreiber von Websites, die das Programm DeCSS, mit dem sich die Verschlüsselung (CSS) von DVDs umgehen lässt, zum Herunterladen bereitstellen, sind zentrale Rechtskonflikte, die zusammen mit der ähnlich gelagerten [External Link] Klage von RealNetworks gegen Streambox und dem [External Link] Prozess der Recording Industry Association of America gegen MP3.com den Rahmen des Urheberrechts im digitalen Zeitalter definieren werden."

• January 21, 2000: Burke, Lynn, Small Win for CA DVD Hackers, Wired:
  "Santa Clara Superior Court Judge William J. Elfving denied a request by the DVD Copy Control Association to submit code-bearing T-shirts into evidence on Friday."

• January 21, 2000: Howe, Jeff, DVD Hackers Take a Hit in NY, Wired:
  "After hearing three hours of argument, federal judge Louis A. Kaplan granted the MPAA's request for a preliminary injunction against three Web site hosts who had distributed the DVD decryption utility."

• January 20, 2000: Burke, Lynn, DVD Case: Battle of the Basics, Wired:
   "It's been more than three months since a 15-year-old boy in Norway sat down at his computer, posted the code that breaks the encryption to DVDs to his Web site, and set off a chain of events he never could have predicted."

• January 19, 2000: Mit T-Shirts für DVD-Hacker, Heise:
  "Durch T-Shirt-Verkauf wollen Betroffene im DVD-Hack-Gerichtsverfahren der Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) für die juristische Unterstützung danken."

• January 19, 2000: Medosch, Armin, Richter verschiebt Entscheidung im Verfahren über DVD-Kopierschutz, Telepolis:
  "Nach einer vierstündigen Anhörung gestern entschied Richter William J. Elfving, dass er über den Antrag der DVD-CAA, die Verbreitung von DeCSS zu verbieten, noch keine Entscheidung treffen kann."

• January 19, 2000: Harrison, Ann, Civil-rights group blasts DVD suit, CNN:
  "Legal actions filed by eight motion-picture companies seeking injunctions against Web site operators for posting a controversial software program have drawn fire from an online civil rights group that contends the move is unconstitutional."

• January 18, 2000: Burke, Lynn, DVD Judge Needs More Time, Wired:
  "After listening to four hours of testimony in a packed Santa Clara County Superior Court room Tuesday, Judge William J. Elfving decided not to decide anything."

• January 18, 2000: Burke, Lynn, DVD Hearing: Suits Meet Geek, Wired:
  "A hearing on a preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court."

• January 18, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Digital Copyright Law on Trial, Wired:
  "The New York lawsuit appears to be the first to use the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to try to restrict a computer program."

• January 18, 2000: Uimonen, Terho, Film studios file suit against accused DVD hackers, CNN:
   Eight major motion picture companies late last week filed injunction complaints in U.S. Federal Court against three alleged hackers to prevent them from publishing an unauthorized DVD (digital versatile disk) de-encryption program on their Web sites.

• January 17, 2000: Medosch, Armin, Filmstudios verklagen DVD-Hack-Websites, Telepolis:
  "Mit einer von [External Link] Quintessenz, Wien, orchestrierten internationalen Kampagne protestiert die "Global Internet Liberty Campaign" ( [External Link] GILC - eine Koalition von weltweit mehr als 50 Bürgerrechtsgruppen) gegen eine Klage, welche die Digital Versatile Disc Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA) Ende Dezember gegen dutzende Personen weltweit eingebracht hat, die Informationen zum DVD Verschlüsselungssystem CSS oder Verweise auf diese Information im Internet publiziert haben."

• January 7, 2000: Kaplan, Carl, DVD Lawsuit Questions Legality of Linking, New York Times:
  "For the second time in as many months, an American court has been asked to wrestle with a problem whose answer could determine the future look and free-wheeling nature of the World Wide Web."

• January 3, 2000: Raymond, Eric, Der Geist ist aus der Flasche, Primavista

• December 31, 1999: Judge Rejects Effort to Block DVD Program, New York Times:
  "An electronics industry group has lost a bid to halt distribution of software that removes security encryption from DVD videos while it awaits a court date."

• December 29, 1999: Oakes, Chris, DVD Round 1 Goes to Hackers, Wired:
  "In a lawsuit that accuses 72 Web site owners of posting -- or linking to -- illegal DVD software code, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge William J. Elfving declined the DVD Copy Control Association's request for a temporary restraining order on Wednesday."

• December 29, 1999: Oakes, Chris, Geeks Get Their Day in Court, Wired:
  "Around 30 engineers, consultants, Linux enthusiasts, open-source believers -- and at least one self-described troublemaker -- turned out to express solidarity with the hackers who are being sued by the DVD industry for distributing allegedly proprietary source code over the Web."

• December 28, 1999: Oakes, Chris, DVD Hackers Hit With Lawsuit, Wired:
  "The DVD industry sued 72 hackers and Web-site authors Tuesday for posting -- and even linking to -- software that unlocks the system for preventing illegal copying of DVDs."

• December 28, 1999: DVD-Hack: einstweilige Verfügungen beantragt, Heise:
  "Eine kalifornische Anwaltskanzlei hat in der Nacht zum 28. Dezember mindestens 40 Website-Betreiber in aller Welt per E-Mail wegen angeblich widerrechtlicher Veröffentlichung geschützter Geschäftsgeheimnisse kontaktiert und gerichtliches Vorgehen angekündigt."

• December 28, 1999: Barnett, Armanda, Hundreds of defendants named in lawsuit over DVD hacking, CNN:
  "An industry group that licenses encryption technology for DVDs filed a lawsuit in California on Tuesday accusing 500 Web site administrators of giving away trade secrets in a scheme to override encryption software that protects against DVD piracy."

• November 18, 1999: Macavinta, Courtney, Movie trade group tries to block DVD cracking tool, CNet:
  "In a major test of a new copyright law, the Motion Picture Association of America is hunting down and eliminating from the Net a program that cracks the security on DVDs."

“Some” case documents:    

• January 3, 2003: Order denying stay

• January 2, 2003: Stay Granted

• January 2, 2003: Application For Stay Of Judgement Of The Supreme Court Of California

• November 25, 2002: Pavlovich Court Opinion

• July 18, 2002: Brief of Amici Curiae –Intellectual Property Law Professors, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, and the United States Public Policy Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery Supporting Affirmance in CCA v. Bunner

• July 11, 2002: Brief of ACLU in Support of Defendant Andrew Brunner

• June 11, 2002: DVD CCA's Reply Brief

• January 14, 2002: 2600 Magazine 2nd Cir. En Banc Appeal - in MPAA v. Corley, et al  

• November 28, 2001: US Second Circuit Court of Appeals Decision, affirming District Court ruling against defendants, in Universal v. Reimerdes  

• November 28, 2001:  EFF/Bunner Motion for Summary Judgement (and Memorandum in Support) in DVDCCA v. McLaughlin, Bunner, et al.  

• November 1, 2001: CA Appelate Decision Overturning DeCSS Injunction in DVDCCA v. Bunner

• May 30, 2001: EFF Supplemental Letter Brief in Corley v. Universal appeal  

• May 30, 2001: MPAA Supplemental Letter Brief in Corley v. Universal appeal  

• May 28, 2001: EFF Supplemental Letter Brief in Corley v. Universal appeal

• May 8, 2001: Response Augmentation Order in Universal, et al. v. 2600, et al. 

• May 1, 2001: Transcript of Oral Argument in Universal v. Reimerdes, et al.  

• March 19, 2001: EFF/2600 Appellate Reply Brief in Universal v. Reimerdes  

• March 19, 2001: DVD Copy Control Association Amicus Curiae for Plaintiffs, in Universal v. Reimerdes  

• March 12, 2001: Amicus Brief from Law Professors for the Plaintiffs in Universal v. Reimerdes  

• February 28, 2001: Appellate Reply Brief of Movie Industry Plaintiffs-Appellee in Universal v. Reimerdes

• January 26, 2001: Journalists' & Publishers' Amici Brief in "MPAA v. 2600" Case  

• Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Appellants and Reversal of the Judgment Below  

• January 26, 2001: Law Professors' Amici Brief in "MPAA v. 2600" Case  

• Brief Amicus Curiae in Support of Defendants-Appellants, Supporting Reversal  

• January 26, 2001: Profs. Benkler & Lessig Amici Brief in "MPAA v. 2600" Case  

• Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Appellant  

• January 26, 2001: ACM's Amicus Brief in "MPAA v. 2600" Case - Amicus Curie Brief in Support of Appellants  

• January 26, 2001: Programmers' & Academics' Amici Brief in "MPAA v. 2600" Case - Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Appellants and Reversal of the Judgment Below

• January 26, 2001: Educators Amici Brief in "MPAA v. 2600" Case - Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Appellant  

• January 26, 2001:  Library & public interest group Amicus brief

• January 19, 2001: EFF/2600 Appeal Brief in Universal v. Reimerdes  

• August 30, 2000: Judge's revision of the decision  

• August 17, 2000: Initial Decision  

• May 15, 2000: Appeal Brief in CCA v. Brunner  

• January 14, 2000: MPAA Members' Complaint in MPAA v. Reimerdes, Corley and Kazan  

• February 2, 2000: Memorandum Order, in MPAA v. Reimerdes, Corley and Kazan  

• January 20, 2000: Order Granting Prelim. Injunction for plaintiffs against defendants, in DVD CCA v. McLaughlin, Bunner et al.  

• December 28, 1999: DVD CCA Complaint in DVD CCA v. McLaughlin, Bunner, et al.

Not enough links yet? See Links to DVD news of technical and legislative/litigative natures, DeCSS Press Coverage, OpenDVD.org, Universal, et al. v. 2600, et al. – Bibliography for more press coverage.

Also see the Openlaw/DVD forum.

Look here for A Brief History of DeCSS and the DMCA.

For legal documents see the EFF Archive for Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Reimerdes and for DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Andrew Bunner. Case Documents are also available here and in the 2600 Archive.

Also available online is an Interview with Jon Johansen, the Norwegian, who created DeCSS.

Want to see Photos from the trial? Want to listen to the arguments? AUDIO AVAILABLE FOR 2600 DECSS HEARING, 2600 News Archive

Also see the Decision Section: November 28, 2001, November 1, 2001, August 17, 2000, February 2, 2000, January 20, 2000 

And finally for the people out there with humor: Pannell, Dean, I want my DVD, your honor, osOpinion

Intellectual Reserve Inc. v. Tanners

A temporary restraining order stopped the Tanners from displaying parts of the Church Handbook of Instructions on their website. Soon after the ruling they posted e-mails on their Website that tell visitors where to find copies of the book online. They didn’t link to these sites, but merely provided the URL. International Reserve Inc., the corporation that holds the copyrights in the book, successfully asked a court to expand the restraining order. In view of the court the URL posting amounted to contributory copyright infringement. The case was finally settled.

• December 7, 2000: Fulton, Ben, The Tanners’ Uneasy Settlement, Salt Lake City Weekly

• December 23, 1999: Fulton, Ben, LDS Copyright Battle Storms Web, Salt Lake City Weekly:
  "First it was a religious dispute. Then it was a copyright dispute. Now, say some Internet experts, it could change the way people link from one site to another on the Web."

• December 14, 1999: Lawson, Stephen, Copyright ruling targets Web links, CNN:
  "A ruling this week by a federal court in Utah could represent a body blow to a key feature of the Web: linking users of one site to information on others."

• December 10, 1999: Kaplan, Carl, Copyright Decision Threatens Freedom to Link, New York Times:
  "In a ruling that could undermine the freedom to create links on the Web, a federal judge in Utah has temporarily barred two critics of the Mormon Church from posting on their Web site the Internet addresses of other sites featuring pirated copies of a Mormon text."

• December 10, 1999: Reaves, Jessica, Better Be Careful Whose Links You Click..., Times.com:
  "A Utah judge says Internet links to copyrighted material may be a legal no-no. What happened to the free-for-all Web?"

• November 11, 1999: Federal judge orders couple to remove Web links to Mormon text, freedomforum:
  "A federal judge has extended a restraining order barring a local couple from posting parts of a Mormon church handbook on the Internet."

• Chronology of the events on the website of the defendant’s

• Information on the Settlement

• Court Transcripts

• Photos

• December 6, 1999, Preliminary Injunction

Also see the Decision Section: December 6, 1999

Bernstein v. J.C Penney

Department store J.C. Penney and cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden were sued by Photographer Gary Bernstein because of an unauthorized reproduction of one of his photographs. The picture was three clicks away from the website of the defendants. In the opinion of Los Angeles Judge Manuel Real the links did not violate Bernstein’s copyright.

• November 1998: CA Judge Dismisses Copyright Claims Based On Linking, Software Law Bulletin:
  "Without comment, a California federal judge has dismissed, with prejudice, copyright infringement allegations against defendants who maintained links that eventually led to a Swedish web site where allegedly infringing photographs were displayed."

• September 25, 1998: Kaplan, Carl, Can A Web Link Break Copyright Laws?, New York Times:
  "Suppose a Web site links to a site that links to another site containing illegally reproduced photographs. Can the first site be sued for illegal linking?"

• September 22, 1998: Borland, John, Court Dismisses Web Copyright Case, TechWeb:
  "A Los Angeles judge has dismissed a copyright lawsuit that threatened to hold websites legally responsible for links to content posted elsewhere on the Web."

• Samson, Martin, Short Summary

Nottinghamshire County Council v. Journalists

In 1997 three British journalists posted the so called JET-Report on their website, which deals with a flawed government investigation into a case of alleged satanic ritual abuse. The journalists removed the report after Britain's high court issued an injunction, ordering them to take the report off their site.

To stop this government censorship, people around the globe put the report on their websites and thus created several mirror sites. The journalists linked to these websites. The Nottinghamshire County Council tried to stop the dissemination and to keep the content of the report a secret. They send threatening letters to several people, but finally dropped all legal action.

News Articles

• August 18, 1997: Wieder ein Veröffentlichungsverbot am Internet gescheitert, Juristisches Internetprojekt Saarbrücken:
  "Trotz Obsiegens im einstweiligen Verfahren - am 30.6. hatte der Londoner High Court britischen Journalisten die ungenehmigte Veröffentlichung von JET-Report-Auszügen im Internet bei Haftandrohung verboten - gab das Nottinghamshire County Council jetzt bekannt, dass es auf die Fortsetzung des Verfahrens in der Hauptsache verzichten werde."

• August 4, 1997: Craddock, Ashley, Nottingham v. Net: Game, Set, Match to Net, Wired:
  "Thwarted by the Net, the Nottinghamshire County Council has dropped its two-month-old attempt to quash the online publication of a report critical of a flawed government investigation into the United Kingdom's first case of alleged satanic ritual abuse."

• August 4, 1997: Kornblum, Janet, British relent on banned report, CNet:
  "Score a victory for the Internet: A local government in England, which had been fighting to stop the distribution of a banned government report on the Net, has withdrawn from the fight, leaving the other side to claim victory."

• June 13, 1997: Kornblum, Janet, Britain pursues banned report, CNet:
  "British authorities trying to regain control of a report let loose online last week are telling an American professor to take the report--along with any links to it--off the Net."

• June 10, 1997: Kornblum, Janet, Governments strive to keep lid on the Net, CNet

• June 3, 1997: Kornblum, Janet, U.K. child abuse witch-hunt exposed, CNet:
  "David Hebditch and two other British journalists knew they were breaking the law when they posted a banned government report detailing a notorious ritual child abuse case on their Web site."

• The BroXtowe Files

• Injunction  

• JET-Report

Also see the Decision Section: June 3, 1997

IFPI Schweden v. Tommy Olssen

Criminal charges were filed against Tommy Olssen, because he had provided links to more than 300 copyrighted songs. Sweden’s Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit.

• June 15, 2000: Musikverband verliert Klage gegen MP3-Fan, tecchannel:
  "Das Oberste Gericht in Schweden hat in Stockholm die erste Klage der europäischen Musikindustrie wegen Verbreitung illegaler Musikkopien im Internet abgewiesen."

• September 16, 1999: Musikindustrie verliert Prozess um MP3-Links, Heise:
  "Das Gericht begründete den Freispruch damit, dass der 17-Jährige niemals selbst Musik ins Netz gestellt, sondern nur Verbindungen zu anderen Links mit Musik angegeben habe."

• Claesson, Katarina: Linking and copyright – a summary of a recent ruling in a Swedish court of Appeal:
  "On the 27th of December 1999 the Swedish court of appeal in Mid Sweden (Göta Hovrätt) ruled on a criminal case involving a private person (Olsson) linking to MP3-websites."

Also see the Decision Section: June 15, 2000

Direct links into Peer-2-Peer networks

Fake files in Peer-2-Peer networks begin to spoil the fun of illegal downloads. In reaction to this development, direct links into Peer-2-Peer networks are becoming more and more popular. Several websites confirm the authenticity of files and provide directlinks, e.g. Sharereactor, Filenexus or Bitzi. Direct links into the Gnutella network are called "Magnet Uniform Ressource" (Magnet URI), into Kazaa sig2dat. 

The sig2dat program e.g. creates startfiles and gives a file a unique signature hash that no other file has. Thus a file hash serves as the identifier of a file content and can be compared to a fingerprint. A user can report the hash information to other users, thus enabling them to create startfiles. The program also enables a user to create quicklinks. A quicklink works and looks like any regular website link, but instead of taking a user to a website it creates a startfile in the shared folder. When a user opens Grokster or KaZaa, the startfile automatically shows up in the traffic section and the download of the file starts. (For more information on the technical background see the FastTrackMovies FAQ)

IFPI Germany send letters to several webmasters demanding they remove directlinks to music files in P2P networks within 24 hours. Several webmaster complied.  

• February 13, 2003: Die deutsche Musikindustrie geht gegen eDonkey-Seiten vor, Heise:
  "Die deutsche Landesgruppe der International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) hat alle größeren deutschen eDonkey-Seiten, die so genannte "Directlinks" auf urheberrechtlich geschützte Musik anbieten, aufgefordert, diese innerhalb einer 24-stündigen Frist zu entfernen."

• January 27, 2003: Directlinks zum Tauschbörsen-Himmel, derStandard.at

• July 23, 2002: eDonkey-Linkseite unter Beschuss, Heise

Austropersonal.com / Jobmonitor.com

• April 17, 2001: Rötzer, Florian, Haftbar für Inhalte auf einer verlinkten fremden Website, Telepolis:
  "Der Oberste Gerichtshof in Österreich hat sich erstmals mit der Frage beschäftigt, ob der Betreiber einer Website für einen Link auf eine andere Website haftet."

Also see the Decisions Section: December 19, 2000

Sir Elton John v. Countess Joulebine

Defendant, who operates a website specialized in gossip, linked to a highly confidental stolen document relating to a court case between Sir Elton John and his accountants.

• Mcllwaine, David, Summary and Commentary, pp. 14 ff.

Warez.at

  Warez.at, a website that redirected people to a variety of other pirated software suppliers around the world, has been closed down.

• October 18, 2001: Warez.at versenkt, Heise:
  "Die österreichische Schatzinsel für Softwarepiraten, Warez.at, wurde von der Business Software Alliance dichtgemacht."

• October 18, 2001: Blincoe, Robert, BSA stomps Warez.at, The Register:
  "The Business Software Alliance shut down 118 UK warez (pirate software) sites between January and September 2001."

• October 18, 2001: Reuters, Watchdog scuttles Warez pirate site, ZDNet:
  "A Web site that allegedly became a popular online exchange for software pirates around the globe has been shut down by an industry watchdog group, officials said Wednesday."

Google v. Scientology

The Church of Scientology demanded that Google remove links to anti-Scientology websites from the Google search engine, which violate their copyright. Google removed certain specific URLs in response to the notification.  

• April 22, 2002: Gallagher, David, Google Runs Into Copyright Dispute, New York Times:
  "Google Web search engine finds creative response to complaint from Church of Scientology that search results for 'Scientology' included links to copyrighted church material on foreign Web site critical of church and beyond reach of United States copyright law."

• April 10, 2002: Scientology Complaint to Google, Chilling Effects

• March 26, 2002: Hiler, John, Church v. Google, round 3, Microcontent News:
  "Last week, Google removed Scientology critic Xenu.net from its search engine database, after Scientologists lawyers filed a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) complaint to Google."

• March 22, 2002: Hiler, John, Church v. Google, round 2, Microcontent News:
  "Since the spate of mass media coverage yesterday, Xenu.net is once again the #4 result when you search for the word "Scientology"."

• March 22, 2002: Google Restores Church Links, Wired:
  "Google restored a website critical of the Church of Scientology on its search engine Thursday while free-speech advocates slammed the company for removing the site in the first place."

• March 22, 2002: Google hat Scientology-Kritiker wieder im Index, Heise:
  "Nachdem Google auf Druck der Scientology-Organisation Anfang der Woche einige Scientology-kritische Seiten aus seinem Index entfernt hatte, hat der Suchmaschinen-Betreiber zumindest die wichtigste der betroffenen Seiten, die Homepage der Operation Clambake, mittlerweile wieder in seinen Index aufgenommen."

• March 21, 2002: McCullagh, Declan, Google Yanks Anti-Church Sites, Wired:
  "The Church of Scientology has managed to yank references to anti-Scientology websites from the Google search engine."

• March 21, 2002: Google zensiert Scientology-Kritiker, Heise:
  "Google hat eine Reihe von Seiten der Scientology-kritischen Sites "Operation Clambake" und ihrer Mirror-Server aus seinem Index gelöscht."

• March 21, 2002: Hiler, John, Church v. Google, Microcontent News:
  "Microcontent News has learned that the Church of Scientology™ is aggressively using digital copyright laws to eliminate one of its chief online critics from the Google database."

Google, Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Quote from Google.com e-mail 20.03.2002

Deutsche Bahn v. AltaVista, Google, Yahoo

Deutsche Bahn sent letters to AltaVista, Yahoo and Google asking them to remove hyperlinks to the online copies of two articles from the German-language left-wing extremist publication, Radikal, which has been outlawed in Germany. The articles published under the headline "A handbook for destruction of railroad transport of all kinds" detail how to cut power on parts of the railway system. All three search engines complied with the request, thus avoiding a lawsuit.

§    April 22, 2002: Schulzki-Haddouti, Christiane, Deutsche Bahn setzt sich bei Suchmaschinen-Betreiber durch, Telepolis:
"Die Deutsche Bahn hat die deutschen Tochtergesellschaften der Suchmaschinen Google, Altavista und Yahoo abgemahnt - mit Erfolg."

§    April 22, 2002: Suchmaschinen entfernen “radikale” Links, Heise:
"Die deutschen Tochtergesellschaften der Suchmaschinen Google, Altavista und Yahoo folgen der Abmahnung der Deutschen Bahn, Links auf die Site der linksradikalen Zeitschrift Radikal aus dem Angebot zu nehmen."

• April 18, 2002: Evers, Joris, AltaVista, Google Remove Controversial Links, PC World:
  "Search engines avoid legal action, agree to delete links to site offering info on sabotaging railway systems."

• April 17, 2002: Naraine, Ryan, Google May Remove Controversial Links, Enterprise News:
  "Search engine firm Google said late Thursday it was negotiating a resolution of a lawsuit filed by Germany's national railway operator Deutsche Bahn AG over search results that link to allegedly illegal Web articles."

• April 17, 2002: Deutsche Bahn will Google verklagen, Golem.de:
  "Die Deutsche Bahn will den Suchmaschinen-Anbieter Google verklagen, da dieser eine Sabotage-Anleitung für Bahnstrecken verlinkt."

• April 17, 2002: Suchmaschinen sollen “Radikal”-Links aus dem Netz nehmen, Heise:
  "Die Deutsche Bahn AG hat nun auch die Suchmaschinen Google, Yahoo und Altavista abgemahnt."

• April 16, 2002: Schulzki-Haddouti , Christiane / Virtel, Martin, Deutsche Bahn: Teilerfolg bei Klage gegen Google, Yahoo und Altavista, Financial Times:
  "Die Deutsche Bahn hat bei ihrem Kampf gegen Sabotage-Tipps im Internet einen Teilerfolg erzielt."

• April 16, 2002: Evers, Joris, Deutsche Bahn to sue Google; Yahoo, AltaVista next up, Network World Fusion:
  "Deutsche Bahn AG, the German national railway operator, Wednesday will file suit against Google because the company's search engine provides links to a Web site that offers instructions on how to sabotage railway systems, Deutsche Bahn said Tuesday."

Deutsche Bahn v. XS4ALL

• November 10, 2002: Keine Berufung im Verfahren wegen „radikaler“ Websites, Heise:
  "Ein niederländisches Gericht hat den Berufungsantrag des Webhosters XS4ALL im Fall Radikal abgewiesen."

• April 15, 2002: Schulzki-Haddouti, Christiane, Deutsche Bahn verklagte XS4ALL wegen linksradikaler Zeitschrift „Radikal“ und gewann, Telepolis:
  "XS4ALL musste die "Radikal"-Seiten vom Netz nehmen; Amsterdamer Gericht urteilte nach der in niederländisches Recht umgesetzten europäischen E-Commerce-Richtlinie."

• April 15, 2002: Deutsche Bahn gewinnt gegen Provider der Zeitschrift „Radikal“, Heise:
  "Die Deutsche Bahn AG hat den niederländischen Webhoster XS4ALL dazu gezwungen, zwei deutschsprachige Anleitungen zur Sabotage des Eisenbahnbetriebs vom Netz zu nehmen."

Deutsche Bahn v. Indymedia.nl

Indymedia website contained links to mirror sites of Radikal which have popped up all over the Web. Deutsche Bahn demanded the removal of the links on April 23, 2002. 
Indymedia.nl refused and Deutsche Bahn sued. A dutch judge ordered Indymedia NL to remove links pointing to the mirrors of Radikal sites from a page on their website. What makes the decision especially noteworthy is the fact, that all links were surface links. None of the links was pointing to the offending articles directly!

• July 2, 2002: Cullen, Drew, Indymedia.nl loses anarchist hyperlinks case, The Register:
   "In April this year, Deutsche Bahn sued Google over links to a German anarchist website which showed how to sabotage a railway."

• Deutsche Bahn vs. Indymedia: Where is the internet without indirect links?, Indymedia.nl:
    "Deutsche Bahn, the German rail company, won a court case against Indymedia.nl, ordering Indymedia.nl to remove all direct and indirect links to two pages that contain information considered unlawful in the Netherlands." 

• June 20, 2002: Press Release: Judge orders Indymedia NL to remove links to Radikal mirrors, Indymedia.nl:
  "The court case, initiated by Deutsche Bahn (German Rail, DB) against
  Indymedia NL, has turned out negative for the latter organisation." 

• April 25, 2002: German railroad threatens Indymedia over links to “Radikal” site, Politech:
  "The German Railroads are threatening Indymedia in the Netherlands with a 
  lawsuit to remove links to mirrors of the magazine Radikal."

• April 25, 2002: Indymedia NL entfernt Seite mit Links nach Radikal NICHT!, Indymedia.nl:
  "Am Dienstag den 23 April 2002 is das Newsmedium Indymedia.nl mittels eines Briefes van den Rechtsanwaelten der Deutschen Bahn aufgefordert eine Internetseite zu entfernen. Die bewusste Seite enthaelt eine anzahl Links zu Mirrors der schon seit Jahren nicht mehr existierenden deutschen Zeitschrift Radikal."

  Also see the Decision Section: June 20, 2002

Lucasfilm v. Aldera.net / NaboOnline

After a request from Lucasfilm Ltd. at least two fan sites stopped linking stolen storyboard images from the film "Star Wars: Episode II."

• October 2, 2000: Sieberg, Daniel, Lucasfilm orders links to new „Star Wars“ images removed, CNN:
  "Striking back in an effort to stop copyright infringement, Lucasfilm Ltd. has ordered at least two fan sites to stop linking to fiercely guarded storyboard images from the upcoming film "Star Wars: Episode II."

Cyber Patrol

The hack of Cyber Patrol, a blocking software offered by Mattel, was done by two persons with a program they called “cphack.” Cphack was designed to reveal the list of blocked sites that Mattel didn’t want to disclose to the public. Matell first sued the hackers from distributing Cphack over their website. After getting an injunction, Mattel went after mirror sites that posted Cphack and anyone who downloaded it or linked to it.

• November 16, 2000: Guernsey, Lisa: Lifting the Curtain on Web Filter Strategies, New York Times

• April 14, 2000: Gunn, Angela, No-Tell Mattel, LA Weekly

• March 29, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Mattel Ruling Confuses Hackers, Wired:
  "A federal judge's vague ruling in a case over a program that reveals Cyberpatrol's secret blacklist has left the Net's hacking community thoroughly confused."

• March 28, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Mattel Can Go After Mirrors, Wired:
  "A federal judge in Boston has invited Mattel to start contempt of court proceedings to shut down mirror sites in a suit over its Cyberpatrol filtering software."

• March 28, 2000: Rötzer, Florian, Überraschende Wende, Telepolis:
  "Cyberpatrol-Hacker stimmen einer Einigung mit Mattel zu und übertragen das Copyright an ihrem Programm zur Umgehung der Verschlüsselung an das Unternehmen."

• March 27, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Mattel Stays on the Offensive, Wired:
  "Upping the stakes in a battle over a utility that reveals Cyberpatrol's list of off-limits websites, Mattel threatened mirror sites with contempt charges during a court hearing Monday afternoon."

• March 21, 2000: Stenger, Richard: Cyber Patrol decoding brawl gets ugly and international, CNN:
  "A legal dispute between a U.S. toymaker that produces a popular Internet pornography filter and two programmers that decoded the software could heat up into a messy international brawl."

• March 19, 2000: Rötzer, Florian, Cyberpatrol-Hack: Einstweilige Verfügung eines amerikanischen Richters, Telepolis:
  "Das Verbot, das Umgehungsprogramm zu verbreiten, betrifft alle Mirror-Websites; der schwedische Provider von einem der Beklagten hat die Seite mit dem Programm bereits vom Netz genommen."

• March 17, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, CyberPatrol Hackers Lose Round, Wired:
  "U.S. District Judge Edward Harrington granted Mattel -- the toy giant that also sells CyberPatrol -- its request on Friday for an injunction against two programmers who created the "cphack" utility."

• March 16, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Mattel Sues Over Blocking Hack, Wired:
  "Toy-maker Mattel has sued two programmers who revealed how to circumvent its CyberPatrol blocking software."

• Permanent Injunction

• Cyber Patrol break FAQ  

• CyberPatrol lawsuit archive

MP3Board v. RIAA

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sent several cease-and-desist lettes to MP3Board.com, a search engine that provides hyperlinks to MP3 music files available for download over the Internet, alleging that the links would infringe their copyright. MP3Board filed a preemptive lawsuit on June 2, 2000 in federal district court in San Jose to get a decision on whether providing hyperlinks constitutes copyright infringement or not. MP3Board also asked for redress for the RIAA's role in temporarily shutting down the MP3Board Website. A short time later, the RIAA also filed suit in federal district court in New York.

News Articles:

• March 20, 2001: MP3-Suchmaschine verlangt Schadensersatz von Plattenindustrie, Heise:
  "Die MP3-Suchmaschine MP3Board hat mit einer Schadenersatzklage gegen die Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) eine weitere juristische Hürde übersprungen."

• October 17, 2000: Borland, John MP3Board case moves to New York, News.com:
  "While file-trading paragon Napster waits in court and rival Scour seeks bankruptcy protection, another potentially landmark online music case is moving toward resolution."

• July 26, 2000: King, Brad: MP3Board Offers to Sever Links, Wired:
  "Music portal MP3Board is trying to appease the RIAA with technology that enables copyright owners to destroy links on its site to music files thought to be pirated."

• July 18, 2000: Borland, John, MP3Board countersues RIAA, calls MP3 links legal, News.com:
  "MP3Board today filed its own claim against the Recording Industry Association of America, asking for redress for the RIAA's role in "temporarily shutting down the MP3Board Web site" because it links to copyrighted songs on other Web sites."

• June 26, 2000: King, Brad, RIAA: No Hyperlinking Allowed, Wired:
  "On Friday, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed a suit against content-aggregation site MP3Board.com. The copyright infringement suit filed in federal district court in New York claims that the website knowingly gathers, indexes, and organizes links to sites where illegal files are offered for download."

• June 6, 2000: Mariano, Gwendolyn, MP3 firm in music-linking dispute with record industry, News.com:
  "A little-known Internet search company has fired a legal shot over the bow of the recording industry to preserve its ability to guide Web surfers to online music files, legal and illegal."

• June 5, 2000: King, Brad, MP3 Site Sues RIAA Over Linking, Wired:
  "The recording industry got a bit of a shock on Monday when a digital music search site filed a lawsuit asking the judge to stop the Recording Industry Association of America from attempting to shut its website down."

Legal Documents:

§         April 23, 2001: MP3Board Opposition to RIAA Motion for Summary Judgment

§         April 23, 2001: MP3Board Opposition to Record Company Motion fur Summary Judgement

§         April 6, 2001: MP3Board Motion for Summary Judgment

§         June 2, 2000: Complaint

Information on the lawsuit on the MP3Board website.

Scientology v. Spaink

According to a Dutch court ruling links to a website that infringes someone’s copyright are also an infringement. The decision stems from a lawsuit Scientology filed against the journalist Karin Spaink, who posted materials written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard on her  Website.

• 09.06.1999: Goodin, Dan, Scientologists’ copyright suit shapes Net liability, CNet:
  "Linking to a site that contains material that infringes someone's copyright also is an infringement, a Dutch court ruled today, according to the Church of Scientology, the plaintiff in the case."

Also see: Postings and information about the Dutch protest against Scientology

Also see the Decisions Section: June 9, 1999

Microsoft v. Slashdot

On May 2, 2000, Slashdot posted an article describing Microsoft's extensions to the Kerberos standard. Several Slashdot users posted hyperlinks to Microsoft's Kerberos specifications. Microsoft sent Slashdot a letter claiming copyright violation and loss of trade secrets, and requested to remove posts containing links. Slashdot refused to remove the posts. Microsoft should not suppress free speech in the public Web forum.

• June 1, 2000: Gunn, Angela, A nudge and a link, Seattle Weekly:
  "A few months back during the cphack fracas, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the judge in that case whether injunctions on that Net-filter workaround extended to third-party sites that linked to the information rather than hosting it on their own servers."

• May 12, 2000: Kermath, Annie, Microsoft picks fight with Slashdot, The Register:
  "Despite Microsoft's request to Slashdot owner and ISP Andover.net to remove postings containing technical details of its proprietary extensions to Kerberos, the open source authentication standard, they're still up there." 

• May 11, 2000: McCullagh, Declan, Call it Slash-and-Burn.org, Wired:
  "Thursday just wasn't a good day for geek-culture destination Slashdot."

• May 11, 2000: Microsoft Asks Slashdot To Remove Readers’ Posts, Slashdot

IFPI v. Fast Search / Lycos

IFPI sued Norwegian company FAST Search over the use of its MP3 search engine and database. Fast's software offers links to more than half a million MP3-based copyrighted songs. FAST MP3 Search finally resolved the conflict with RIAA and IFPI in June 1999.

• March 25, 1999: Medosch, Armin, Musikindustrie weiter auf Feldzug gegen MP3, Telepolis:
  "Klage gegen FAST, die Softwarefirma, die das MP3-Suchwerkzeug für Lycos programmiert." 

• March 24, 1999: Robertson, Chiyo, Lycos may face lawsuit over MP3, ZDNet:
  "The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) on Wednesday sued Norwegian company FAST Search & Transfer ASA over the use of its MP3 search engine and database, which it has licensed to portal giant Lycos."

• March 24, 1999: MP3 Search Engine Under Fire, Wired:
  "The global recording industry opened fire Wednesday on Internet music piracy, launching proceedings against a Norwegian partner of US search engine Lycos."

• 02.02.1999: RIAA Rains on Lycos' MP3 Party, Wired:
  "Lycos will work with the Recording Industry Association of America to ensure the company's new MP3 search engine does not link to illegal sites, the Associated Press reported Tuesday."

Information on the signing of a contract

Suhrkamp v. Kantel

Kantel’s website contained a link to an illegal copy of Martin Walser’s latest book “Tod eines Kritikers”. The Suhrkamp Verlag send him a  cease-and-desist-letter.

• June 21, 2002: Walser-Roman: Ärger im Netz, Netzzeitung.de:
  "Nachdem «Tod eines Kritikers» im Web aufgetaucht war, hat der Suhrkamp-Verlag Homepage-Betreiber, die die Raubkopie verlinkten, abmahnen lassen."

• June 20, 2002: Suhrkamp zieht Abmahnung wegen Link auf Walser-Roman zurück, Heise:
  "Der Suhrkamp-Verlag hat seine Abmahnung gegen den Betreiber des Weblogs Schockwellenreiter.de wegen Veröffentlichung eines Links auf die im Internet kursierende illegale Kopie des neuen Romans von Martin Walser zurückgezogen."

• June 16, 2002: Suhrkamp mahnt Weblog wegen Walser-Roman ab, Heise:
  "Der Betreiber des Weblogs "Schockwellenreiter" soll 1200 Euro Abmahnkosten dafür zahlen, dass er einen Link auf eine der vielen im Internet kursierenden Online-Versionen des Martin-Walser-Romans "Tod eines Kritikers" gesetzt hat."

• June 14, 2002: Hammerschmitt, Marcus, La règle du jeu, Telepolis:
  "Künstliche Erregung in Frankfurt: Nachdem man etlichen Journalisten per Email den Volltext von Martin Walsers "Tod eines Kritikers" zukommen ließ, wundert man sich nun über die Verbreitung des Machwerks im Internet."

Letter from Suhrkamp

UCSD v. Student Group

The University of California at San Diego ordered a student organization called the Chè Cafè Collective to delete hyperlinks to the official site of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), an alleged terrorist organization. After receiving several letters, the University agreed with the signers of the letters that links are a First Amendment right.

• October 9, 2002: UCSD retreats on links to terrorist group, but hosting not OK, Politech:
  "The University of California at San Diego has abandoned plans to discipline a student group for linking to an alleged terrorist Web
  site."

• October 8, 2002: McCullagh, Declan, University backs down on link ban, CNet:
  "On Tuesday, the American Association of University Professors and nine other groups wrote a letter asking UCSD to abandon its threats of disciplinary action against the Che Cafe Collective, a move that the school had claimed was necessary because of the USA Patriot Act. The cafe had linked to a site supporting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the U.S. government has designated as a terrorist group." 

• September 28, 2002: Asaravala, Amit, College Questioning Site's Link, Wired:
  "Officials at the University of California at San Diego are reconsidering a recent decision that would have forced a student activist group to remove from its website a link to a guerilla group accused of being a terrorist organization." 

• September 26, 2002: McCullagh, Declan, University bans "illegal" links, ZDNet:
  "The University of California at San Diego has ordered a student organization to delete hyperlinks to an alleged terrorist Web site, citing the recently enacted USA Patriot Act."

Google v. Illegal Contents

Section 512 of the DMCA protects online service providers e.g. search engines from liability for information posted or transmitted by subscribers if they quickly remove or disable access to material identified in the copyright holder's complaint. You will find many cease and desist letters adressed to Google on the Chilling Effects Website.  

According to a report from Harvards Univerity's Berkman Center, Google also deleted more than 100 controversial sites from its French and German listings. Banned are e.g. anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi websites and a fundamentalist Christian site that is adamantly opposed to abortion. The removed sites still appear after a search on the Google.com site.

• October 25, 2002: Rötzer, Florian, Die Welt ist keineswegs alles, was Google auflistet, Telepolis:
  "Nach einem Bericht des Berkman Center an der Harvard-Universität wurden bei google.de und google.fr mehr als 100 Websites bei den Suchresultatenen nicht aufgeführt, die bei google.com aber nicht zensiert werden."

• October 25, 2002: Schwartz, John, Study Tallies Sites Blocked by Google, New York Times:
  "Study by Ben Edelman and Jonathan Zittrain, co-director of Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, finds that Google, popular Internet search engine, has excluded more than 100 Web sites from French and German versions of its index under pressure from those nations' governments."

• October 23, 2002: McCullagh, Declan, Google excluding controversial sites, CNet:
  "Absent from Google's French and German listings are Web sites that are anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi or related to white supremacy, according to a new report from Harvard University's Berkman Center."

IFPI China MyWeb Inc.com

MyWeb Inc.com settled a lawsuit brought against it in China by the IFPI. The IFPI lawsuit had been filed in the People's Court of Beijing in December 1999, claiming MyWeb’s site enabled Internet users to download the sound recordings of IFPI members through hyperlinks and search engines.    

• Internet settlement in China leads to joint IFPI/My Web copyright campaign, IFPI:
  "China's leading TV portal, MyWeb Inc.com [AMEX: MWB], together with the IFPI, representing the international recording industry, today launched a joint campaign to uphold copyright laws and fight music piracy on the Internet in China."

• March 27, 2000: Fridman, Sherman, My Web Inc.com Settles Copyright Lawsuit, Computeruser:
  "The suit complained that MyWeb had set up Web pages on its China-based Web portal that enabled Internet users to download the sound recordings of IFPI members, in MP3 format through hyperlinks and search engines."