DVD CSS Decryption
2006 Search AllInOne Software Reviews
The CSS (Content Scrambling System) is the encryption method used in commercial DVD production to prevent DVD data from being copied. The sole purpose of the CSS is to protect copyrights by preventing the pirating of DVDs.
The CSS decryption, called DeCSS (De-Content Scrambling System) is an algorithm that can be used to decrypt a commercially-produced DVD, allowing it to be unlocked then copied. DeCSS was devised by three people, two of whom remain anonymous. It was released on the Internet mailing list LiViD in October 1999. The one known author of the trio is Norwegian programmer Jon Lech Johansen, whose home was raided in 2000 by Norwegian police. Still a teenager at the time, he was put on trial in a Norwegian court and faced a possible jail sentence of two years and large fines, but was acquitted of all charges in early 2003. However, on March 5, 2003, a Norwegian appeals court ruled that Johansen would have to be retried on charges that he violated Norwegian Criminal Code section 145 (the hacker law).
The court said that arguments filed by the prosecutor and additional evidence merited another trial. On December 22, 2003, the appeals court agreed with the acquittal, and on January 5, 2004 Norway's Økokrim (Economic Crime Unit) decided not to pursue the case further.