DeCSS

DeCSS is a small computer program that allows a user to override the copy-protection system employed by most commercial digital versatile disk (DVD) producers. The name of the program refers to its ability to decrypt the most common form of DVD copy protection, the Content Scrambling System (CSS). In addition to ensuring that DVDs cannot be copied, CSS provides other restrictions on use, including regional controls and required viewing of previews on some DVDs. DeCSS has become a test case for the application of new copyright law to multimedia, and a rallying point for those concerned with the fair use of copyrighted material.

CSS uses a system of encryption that requires a DVD player to provide a 40-bit key to temporarily decrypt and display the video. This key is provided by the hardware itself in the case of a stand-alone DVD player, or by the software that displays the video on a computer screen. In the latter case, the required software and keys are licensed to makers of commercial software by a trade group called the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA). A number of DVD players for computers have been made available, including WinDVD, ATI DVD, XingDVD, and many others.

Several groups attempted to “reverse-engineer” the CSS system and discover its encryption process soon after its introduction. Although it is not entirely clear who was the first, as many as three groups managed to successfully uncover the workings of CSS. The process was made far easier when the makers of one such program, XingDVD, failed to adequately protect their key. As part of a larger project to provide video playback for the Linux operating system (the “Livid” project), a group of young Norwegian programmers led by 16-year-old Jon Johansen, used this information to write DeCSS. DeCSS would allow those using the Linux operating system to view legally purchased DVDs, and (either coincidentally or centrally, depending upon your perspective) put no barriers on copying these DVDs.

At the end of October 1999, Johansen placed a copy of DeCSS on his father's Web site, and the program spread over much of the Web soon afterward. Though it was argued that DeCSS was part of a multimedia system for the Linux operating system, the program, in fact, ran on Windows. Other portions of the system would have to be implemented before it could be used on Linux systems directly. Attorneys for the DVD-CCA demanded that the program be taken down; in late January 2000, Johansen and his father were detained and interrogated, and computers and cellular phones were seized from their home. The coverage of this event set the stage for court battles over the following years.

DeCSS was not the first piece of software to enable DVD copying. For example, one could create an exact copy from one DVD to another using a DVD burner found in commercial replication (and pirating) operations. However, DeCSS was the first widespread and effective system for easily “ripping” the content of a DVD—that is, for being able to store that content on a hard drive and manipulate it.

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