[KLUG Members] DeCSS case reversed!!! (Woooo Hoooooooo!)

[Adam Williams]

>> Some good news!  Something that has been in painfully short supply
>> lately.  One round of virtual beer for everyone!
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>A bit of good news for the weekend,  a California court has decided
>>that DeCSS is legal under the First Ammendment. "A California court has
>>dealt a potentially serious setback to the movie industry's attempt to
>>rid the online world of software that can help break through copy
>>protections on DVDs.
>Not exactly.
>The California court said that California Trade Secret Law is not
>applicable and cannot be used to grant an injuction barring the
>distribution of DeCSS.  When it is ruled against something like
>DeCSS, DeCSS is clearly classified under pure speech.
>It doesn't mean its legal under the First Amendment for all cases,
>it just means it must be considered under the First Amendment for
>the purpose of Trade Secret Law.  The previous preliminary
>injunction was, therefore, overturned in this appeal as a result.

True,  but the "free speech" issue makes the other points assailable. 
If code isn't supported as a form of expression then the dominos start
falling and all of Open Source is in peril.  If the free-speech-ness of
code continues to stand it does punch holes through whatever-SSSCA-like
bill eventually gets passed by congress.  Even if **use** of the code is
illegal in some purpose,  it's guaranteed existence makes it just like
guns: operationally available for any purpose.  What constitutes a legal
purpose will certainly change around like the weather,  and as long as
the code remains available you can hope that tomorrow the wind will blow
your way.