DVD Hacking Is Not Protected Speech.

Mondaq Business Briefing, October, 2003

The California Supreme Court has held that an injunction against disseminating software for illicit copying of encrypted DVD movies does not violate First Amendment guaranties of freedom of speech. DVD Copy Control Assoc. v. Bunner, Case No. S102588, 2003 DJDAR 9602 Cal. LEXIS 6295, (Cal. August 25, 2003). The Court did, however, remand the case back to the appeals court to determine if the injunction was warranted under California trade secret law.

In December of 1999, the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) brought an action under California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) against Andrew Bunner, a Norwegian teenager, and numerous other internet website operators to prevent future use of DVD decryption software (DeCSS) that had been reverse engineered in...