Originally, I was going to use this page to post some of the programs I've written, and I may still do that in the future. However, something really great happened recently. A court of appeal in California ruled that, well, in not so many words, source code is protected by the First Amendment. As such, even things like DeCSS, at least while in source code, are protected. Slashdot has an article about this event, and The Register has one, too. Here's my copy of the decision in PDF format.

Here's a nice little quote from the decision:

DVDCCA’s statutory right to protect its economically valuable trade secret is not an interest that is “more fundamental” than the First Amendment right to freedom of speech or even on equal footing with the national security interests and other vital governmental interests that have previously been found insufficient to justify a prior restraint. Our respect for the Legislature and its enactment of the UTSA cannot displace our duty to safeguard the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Accordingly, we are compelled to reverse the preliminary injunction.

Wonderful stuff, eh? Plenty of versions of DeCSS can be found at Dr. David S. Touretzky's webpage, located here.

This page last updated on Saturday, 08-Mar-2003 10:36:55 CST | contact webmaster