MPAA's Valenti Hails New York Federal Judge's Ruling Shutting Down DVD Hackers as ''Major Victory'' in Battle Against Digital Piracy

Business Wire, Jan 20, 2000

Business &Entertainment Editors

LOS ANGELES, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2000

In a major victory for copyright protection, the motion picture industry today celebrated a federal judge's ruling that will force a group of New York-based Internet hackers to stop the posting of software that allows illegal copying of DVDs.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York late this afternoon granted a request by the major motion picture studios for a preliminary injunction against operators of Internet sites that posted an unauthorized de-encryption formula. This software was developed to hack the DVD encryption system.

The judge's order means three New York defendants, Shawn C. Reimerdes, Eric Corley A/K/A &uot;Emmanuel Goldstein&uot; and Roman Kazan, must immediately remove the de-encryption formula from their Internet sites or face contempt of court.

&uot;Judge Kaplan's ruling represents a great victory for creative artists, consumers and copyright owners everywhere. I think this serves as a wake-up call to anyone who contemplates stealing intellectual property,&uot; said Jack Valenti, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of America. &uot;This ruling also means that when Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998, it gave the creative community a powerful tool to defend our rights.&uot;

Additional information on this case may be found on the MPAA Web site at www.mpaa.org.