[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: DeCSS - German
As requested, I attach a copy of the Complaint against you.
The questions you asked are answered in the complaint.
I will send a German version as well.
WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP
JARED B. BOBROW (State Bar. No. 133712)
2882 Sand Hill Road, Suite 280
Menlo Park, California 94025
Telephone: (650) 926-6200
Facsimile: (650) 854-3713
OF COUNSEL:
WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP
ROBERT G. SUGARMAN** Pro hac vice applications being submitted to the
Court.
JEFFREY L. KESSLER*
767 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10153
Telephone: (212) 310-8000
Facsimile: (212) 310-8007
Attorneys for Plaintiff
DVD Copy Control Association, Inc.
Additional Counsel Listed On The Signature Page
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA
|------------------------------------------>
| |
| DVD COPY CONTROL ASSOCIATION, INC., a |
| not-for-profit trade association, |
| |
| |
| Plaintiff, |
| |
| |
| v. |
| |
| |
| ANDREW THOMAS MCLAUGHLIN, an individual; |
| ANDREW BUNNER, an individual; JOHN V. |
| KEW, an individual; SCOTT KARLINS, an |
| individual; GLENN ROSENBLATT, an |
| individual; DALE EMMONS, an individual, |
| EMMANUEL GOLDSTEIN, an individual; |
| DOUGLAS R. WINSLOW, an individual; |
| JONATHAN BLANK, an individual; ROGER |
| KUMAR, an individual; ROBERT JONES, an |
| individual; EN HONG, an individual; |
| MATTHEW ROBERT PAVOLICH, an individual; |
| IAN A. GULLIVER, an individual; JON |
| HANSON, an individual; DAVID M. CHAN, an |
| individual; CAMERON SIMPSON, an |
| individual; TOM VOGT, an individual; |
| CYRIL AMSELLEM, an individual; THORSTEN |
| FENK, an individual; ADRIAN BAUGH, an |
| individual and DOES 1-500, inclusive. |
| |
| |
| Defendants. |
| |
|------------------------------------------>
>---------------------------------------|
| |
| Case No. |
| |
| |
| |
| COMPLAINT FOR |
| INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR |
| MISAPPROPRIATION OF |
| TRADE SECRETS |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
>---------------------------------------|
Plaintiff, the DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. (
?DVD
CCA?), by its attorneys, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, for its Complaint,
alleges as follows:
INTRODUCTION
1. Plaintiff, DVD CCA, a trade association and the sole licensing entity
for Digital Video Disc (?DVD?) technology, brings this action to enjoin
defendant web site owners (?Defendants?) from their continued
misappropriation of trade secrets licensed by DVD CCA. DVD CCA is informed
and believes, and based thereon alleges that Defendants have disclosed, and
continue knowingly and willfully to disclose, proprietary information on
their Internet web sites as part of a scheme to defeat DVD encryption
software which thus enables users to illegally pirate copies of DVD videos.
2. The named defendants, and certain Doe defendants, continue their
unauthorized posting of proprietary information -- which they either
obtained by improper means or knew or should have known was obtained by
others by improper means -- despite the fact that cease and desist letters
were sent to their web sites demanding that such proprietary information be
taken down from their sites. After receiving such notice, many such web
sites voluntarily removed the proprietary information at issue from their
sites. Certain defendants have not received any notice to date because
their existence has only recently come to the attention of DVD CCA.
3. Defendants? posting of the proprietary information licensed by DVD
CCA on their web sites has caused the illegal pirating of the motion
picture industry?s copyrighted content contained on DVDs. Defendants?
actions threaten the financial stability of this new digital video format
for viewing movies and other images -- which has thus far been well
received by the consuming public. Additionally, Defendants? actions
threaten the very existence of DVD CCA and the hundreds of companies
involved in the DVD industry, including 73 companies in California of which
there are 42 in this county and an additional 17 in other Bay area
locations. Moreover, if Defendants are not restrained and enjoined, their
unchecked illegal activities will chill future technological innovation in
the motion picture, consumer electronics and computer industries and
discourage other industries from making their content available to the
public (as the motion picture industry has done here) in new formats.
PARTIES
The Plaintiff
4. Plaintiff, DVD CCA, is a not-for-profit trade association organized
under the laws of the State of Delaware and has its principal place of
business at 225 B Cochrane Circle, Morgan Hill, California. DVD CCA is the
sole licensor of a proprietary system for the encryption and decryption of
data contained on DVDs known as the Content Scramble System (or ?CSS?).
The Defendants
5. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Andrew Thomas McLaughlin (?McLaughlin?) is a citizen of the State
of California, and operates an Internet web site addressed as
mclaughlin.orange.ca.us/~andrew.
6. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Andrew Bunner (?Bunner?) is a citizen of the State of California,
and operates an Internet web site addressed as www.sharedlib.org/decss.zip.
7. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant John V. Kew (?Kew?) is a citizen of the State of California, and
operates an Internet web site addressed as www.logorrhea.com/deCSS.html.
8. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Scott Karlins (?Karlins?) is a citizen of the State of Georgia,
and operates an Internet web site addressed as
www.theresistance.net/files.html.
9. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Glenn Rosenblatt (?Rosenblatt?) is a citizen of the State of New
York, and operates an Internet web site addressed as
www.pzcommunications.com/decss/main.html.
10. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Dale Emmons (?Emmons?) is a citizen of the State of Wisconsin,
and operates an Internet web site addressed as
www.frozenlinux.com/civ/decss.
11. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Emmanuel Goldstein (?Goldstein?) is a citizen of the State of New
York, and operates an Internet web site addressed as
www.2600.com/news/1999/1112.html.
12. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Douglas R. Winslow (?Winslow?) is a citizen of the State of
Maryland, and operates Internet web sites addressed as
douglas.min.net/~drw/css-auth and Chatzone.org/~drw/css-auth.
13. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Jonathan Blank (?Blank?) is a citizen of the State of Oklahoma,
and operates an Internet web site addressed as caspian.twu.net/dvd.
14. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Roger Kumar (?Kumar?) is a citizen of the State of Pennsylvania,
and operates an Internet web site addressed as www.bigteam.org.
15. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Robert Jones (?Jones?) is a citizen of the State of South
Carolina, and operates an Internet web site addressed as
www.dev.zero.org/freecss.html.
16. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant En Hong (?Hong?) is a citizen of the State of Georgia, and
operates an Internet web site addressed as www.dvd-digest.com.
17. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Matthew Robert Pavolich (?Pavolich?) is a citizen of the State of
Indiana, and operates an Internet web site addressed as
www.livid.on.openprojects.net.
18. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Ian A. Gulliver (?Gulliver?) is a citizen of the State of New
York, and operates an Internet web site addressed as
www.gullii.stu.rpi.edu/dvd.
19. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Jon Hanson (?Hanson?) is a citizen of the State of Kansas, and
operates an Internet web site addressed as www.jonhanson.com/dvd.
20. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant David M. Chan (?Chan?) is a citizen of the State of Minnesota,
and operates an Internet web site addressed as www.dumn.edu/~dchan/css.
21. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Cameron Simpson (?Simpson?) resides in Dundas Valley, Australia,
and operates an Internet web site addressed as www.zip.com.au/~cs.
22. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Tom Vogt (?Vogt?) resides in Wedel, Denmark, and operates an
Internet web site addressed as www.lemuria.org/DeCSS.
23. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Cyril Amsellem (?Amsellem?) resides in Val de Marne, France, and
operates an Internet web site addressed as www.dvd-area.com.
24. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Thorsten Fenk (?Fenk?) resides in the country of Germany, and
operates an Internet web site addressed as tasam.com/~fenkt/dvd.
25. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
defendant Adrian Baugh (?Baugh?) resides in Oxford, England, and operates
an Internet web site addressed as
merlin.kebble.ox.ac.uk/~adrian/css/mirrors.html.
26. DVD CCA is unaware of the true names and/or capacities of the
defendants sued herein under the fictitious names Does 1-500, pursuant to
Code of Civil Procedure Section 474, who each were responsible in some way
for the acts and omissions complained of herein. DVD CCA will seek leave
of court to amend the complaint to allege such names and capacities at such
time as they are ascertained.
27. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
each of the Doe defendants 1 through 26 operate Internet web sites, at the
below addresses, which disseminate confidential proprietary CSS information
and also provide ?links? to other web sites which disseminate such
information:
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| Doe | Web Site |
| Defendant | |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 1. | www.free-dvd.org.lu |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 2. | josefine.ben.tuwien.ac.at/~david/dvd |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 3. | rockme.virtualave.net/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 4. | amor.rz.hu-berlin.de/~h0444t2v |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 5. | www.homestead.com/_ksi0701961562917005/avoid?/index.htm |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 6. | www.anglefire.com/jazz/avoiderman/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 7. | www.intelcities.com/Main_Street/Avoiderman/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 8. | www.members.theglobe.com/avoiderman/dvd.htm |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 9. | members.zoom.com/_XMCM/lkjhgfdsa2/index.html |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 10. | www.vexed.net/CSS/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 11. | www.unitycode.org/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 12. | batman.jytol.fi/~vuori/dvd/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 13. | www.zpok.demon.co.uk/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 14. | www.dvdlinks.co.uk/css/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 15. | www.twistedlogic.com/archive/dvd |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 16. | www.capital.net/~wooly/ |
|
| |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 17. | geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Campus/8877/index.html |
| | geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Campus/8877/index.html |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 18. | www.angelfire.com/mt/popefelix/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 19. | members.tripod.lycos.nl/jvz/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 20. | tv.acmecity.com/parody/356/index.html |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 21. | cryptome.org/dvd-free.htm |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 22. | altern.org/bettina/0a0a.html |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 23. | www.crosswinds.net/~valo/DeCSS/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 24. | info.astercity.net/~nicodem/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 25. | 134.100.185.221/decss/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 26. | www.dvdripper.videopage.de/ |
| | |
|-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
28. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
each of the Doe defendants 27 through 54 operate Internet web sites, at the
below addresses, which disseminate confidential proprietary CSS
information:
|----------------->
| |
| Doe |
| Defendant |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Web Site |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 27. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Crypto.gq.nu |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 28. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| www.humpin.org/decss |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 29. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| 209.132.25.138/~inkk/DVD/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 30. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| members.brabant.chello.nl/~j.vreeken/main.html |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 31. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| dirtass.beyatch.net/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 32. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| therapy.endorphin.org/DVD/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 33. |
| |
|---
-------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| www.angelfire.com/in2/mirror/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 34. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| sent.freeserve.co.uk/DeCSS |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 35. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| members.tripod.co.uk/bap/css/css.html |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 36. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| angelfire.com/myband/decss/top.html |
| angelfire.com/myband/decss/top.html |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 37. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/tylerbridge/679/dvd.html |
| fortunecity.com/tinpan/tylerbridge/679/dvdcss.html |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 38. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| munitions.vipul.net/software/algorithms/streamciphers/decss.tar.gz |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 39. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| munitions.polkaroo.net/software/algorithms/streamciphers/decss.tar.gz |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 40. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| munitions.dyn.org/software/algorithms/streamciphers/decss.tar.gz |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 41. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| munitions.cifs.org/software/algorithms/streamciphers/decss.tar.gz |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 42. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| uk1.munitions.net/software/algorithms/streamciphers/decss.tar.gz |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 43. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| munitions.firenze.linux.it/algorithms/streamciphers/decss.tar.gz |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 44. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| perso.libertysurf.fr/ortal98/dvd_rip/decss_12b.zip |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 45. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| users.drak.net/bemann/software/css/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 46. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Port/3224/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 47. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| ftp://alma.dhs.org/pub/DVD/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 48. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| decss.tripod.com/index.html |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 49. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| discordia.de/decss/DeCss.zip |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 50. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| www.dvd-copy.com/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 51. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| dvdtidbits.com/dvd.shtml |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 52. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| www.neophile.net/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 53. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| perso.club-internet.fr/ches/dl/rippers/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------->
| |
| 54. |
| |
|----------------->
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| plato.nebulanet.net:88/css/ |
| |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
29. DVD CCA is informed and believes, and based thereon alleges, that
each of the Doe defendants 55 through 72 operate Internet web sites, at the
below addresses, which provide
?links? to other web sites which disseminate
confidential proprietary CSS information:
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| Doe | Web Site |
| Defendant | |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 55. | quintessenzs.at/q/mirrors.html |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 56. | www.ceraton.com/decss/ |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 57. | slashdot.org/articles/99/11/09/1342207.shtml |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 58. | cryptome.org/dvd-css.htm |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 59. | ftp://dvd:dvd@206.98.63.136/ |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 60. | www.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=547600297 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 61. | www.brakton.freeservers.com/#downloads |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 62. | www.remco.xgov.net/dvd/ |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 63. | www.dvdcracked.tvheaven.com/index.html |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 64. | dvdsite.homepage.com/ |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 65. | www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Derby/2659 |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 66. | get.to/dvdsite |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 67. | home.worldonline.dk/~andersa/download/index.htm |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 68. | www.ooze.org/dvd.html |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 69. | start.at/dvdsoft |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 70. | mmadb.no/hwplus/DeCSS/decss.html |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 71. | home.sol.no/~espen-b/dvd/css/decss.html |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
| | |
| 72. | o2.uio.no/dvd |
| | |
|-----------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
ALLEGATIONS
DVD Format and Need For Copy Protection
30. DVDs provide high quality images, such as motion pictures, digitally
formatted on a convenient 5-inch disc that is resistant to wear and damage
and allows for many attractive consumer features not presently available in
other video formats. DVD video discs containing data comprising motion
pictures in encrypted form can be played either on special purpose machines
(?DVD Players?) or personal computers (?PCs?) equipped with DVD drives.
Encryption is necessary to prevent copying of the copyrighted material on
the DVD. In order that the copyrighted motion picture can be played,
either form of player device requires implementation of the CSS algorithm
and ?master keys? to carry out the decryption of the data stored on the
disc. The implementation that provides this decryption function is
developed by the licensees of DVD CCA using the detailed specifications
which is provided by DVD CCA to such licensees.
31. Before allowing their copyrighted motion pictures to be used on the
DVD format, the motion picture companies insisted on a viable copy
protection system to prevent users from making copies of the motion
pictures. Such protection is necessary to prevent copying from discs that
are rented or borrowed and, more importantly, to prevent broader scale
piracy through widespread transmission of these motion pictures over the
Internet and widespread distribution of ?pirated? discs in competition with
the authorized prerecorded discs.
32. Without the motion picture companies? copyrighted content for DVD
video, there would be no viable market for computer DVD drives and DVD
players, as well as the related computer chips and software necessary to
run these devices and, thus, there would be no DVD video industry.
33. CSS is proprietary technology that was developed to provide the
protection demanded by the motion picture companies against unauthorized
copying of their copyrighted material. This proprietary technology,
including trade secrets, is currently being licensed by DVD CCA, as the
sole duly authorized licensing entity for the CSS technology. Any party
desiring lawfully to use the CSS technology -- either to encrypt content or
decrypt content -- must do so through a license from DVD CCA.
The CSS Agreement as Mechanism to Protect DVD Encryption Software
34. Beginning on or about October 31, 1996, DVD CCA?s
predecessor-in-interest began licensing CSS technology pursuant to an
agreement that later became the Amended and Restated CSS Interim License
Agreement, including the related CSS PROCEDURAL AND AMENDED AND RESTATED
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS (collectively, the ?CSS Agreement?). Since that
time hundreds of licensees have entered into the CSS Agreement. The CSS
Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions under which the CSS licensing
entity (currently DVD CCA) would grant licenses to, among others,
manufacturers of DVD players or DVD drives and related hardware and
software. Licensees were granted the right to use the security system on
DVD products and agreed to safeguard the CSS technology from public
disclosure.
35. The CSS Agreement gives the licensees the right to use the
technology, and provides the necessary descrambling technology and ?master
keys? to do so. The proprietary technology is not accessible to unlicensed
third parties because it is either incorporated in hardware devices --
chips -- or made tamper resistant if distributed in the form of actual
software. Both forms of distribution are such that the proprietary
technology cannot be viewed by non-licensees. Each licensee is assigned a
set of ?master keys? unique to each licensee. When the DVD system was
created, approximately 400 such ?master keys? were predesignated, to be
assigned to licensees over time, and each DVD disc contains, in a part of
the disc not normally read by the player device, a file containing the 400
?master keys.? The system will not operate unless the key contained in the
licensee?s decryption module (a chip or software program) matches one of
the ?master keys? stored on the DVD disc.
36. The CSS Agreement requires licensees to maintain the confidentiality
of certain defined pieces of information, such as the algorithms and
?master keys? and, as such, licensees are subject to a very stringent set
of rules to ensure the maintenance of confidentiality within the group of
licensees.
37. Among the safeguards taken is the requirement that only those
licensees that absolutely need to know a particular algorithm and/or key
are provided with such information. For example, a manufacturer of
semiconductor chips for descrambling CSS content in stand-alone DVD players
is provided with information necessary for manufacturing such chips but not
with information concerning the scrambling process itself or the
authentication between DVD drives and the descrambling module used for
computer-based implementations. Companies that merely assemble parts and
components produced by others may be required to be licensees in order to
purchase such parts and components, but these companies are not provided
with the proprietary CSS information at issue.
38. The CSS Agreement mandates that licensees provide the proprietary CSS
technology at issue only to the strictest minimum number of licensee's
employees who require access to the information, beginning with only three
employees and expanding beyond three only upon notification to the licensor
of the names of the additional employees. Licensees who violate these
requirements are subject to liquidated damages in the amount of $1 million
per violation (with a cap based on profits made from the sale of licensed
products).
39. Additionally, licensees implementing authentication and descrambling
functions in the software are required to do so only in a manner that
obscures the proprietary CSS technology at issue, so as effectively to
frustrate anyone seeking to obtain such proprietary information. Specific
means of accomplishing this protection requirement are provided to
licensees to illustrate the types of measures to be taken and the level of
technical skill that must be employed to defeat any such measures. Failure
to abide by these operating restrictions can subject the licensee to
injunctions prohibiting the sale of the product in which the failure
occurs, through actions brought either by the licensor or by third party
beneficiary content owners.
Creation of DVD CCA
40. DVD CCA?s predecessor-in-interest began the process of licensing
companies to use the technology pursuant to copy protection rules contained
in the ?procedural specifications? associated with the CSS Agreement. The
companies in the DVD video business (motion picture, computer, and consumer
electronics companies) recognized that the licensing of CSS technology,
which is and was critical to the adoption of the DVD video format, ought to
be controlled and administered by the companies in the three industries
together and that the costs associated with such critical intellectual
property protection should be borne by the hundreds of companies involved
in the DVD video business.
41. The DVD industry agreed that the best solution would be the creation
of a licensing entity owned and contr
olled by the licensees of the
technology, pursuant to governance rules that balanced the interests of the
three industries involved.
42. The DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. was, therefore, formed in
December 1998 as a Delaware not-for-profit trade association.
43. The transition to have DVD CCA become this tri-industry licensing
administrator began some time ago. In September 1999, DVD CCA hired its
first staff and occupied offices in Morgan Hill, California. Following
staff training and working with personnel of DVD CCA?s
predecessors-in-interest, who have administered the CSS Agreement, in early
December 1999, DVD CCA and its predecessor signed an agreement, whereby DVD
CCA began itself to handle the day-to-day licensing tasks pursuant to the
CSS Agreement.
44. In mid-December 1999, DVD CCA?s predecessor-in-interest assigned its
licensing interests under the CSS Agreement making DVD CCA the sole
licensing entity which grants licenses to the CSS technology in the DVD
video format. Additionally, DVD CCA was given direct rights to enforce the
CSS Agreement.
The ?Hack? of the CSS Technology
45. As early as October 25, 1999, the source code of a program named
DeCSS was posted on the Internet by Jon Johansen, an individual residing in
Norway, on the web site mmadb.no/hwplus/Software/DeCSS/decss.html. The
DeCSS program which appeared on this web site embodies, uses, and/or is a
substantial derivation of confidential proprietary information which DVD
CCA licenses pursuant to the CSS Agreement. The DeCSS program and links to
other sites with the DeCSS program were removed from the web site on or
around November 8, 1999. The program was removed by Mr. Johansen after a
demand to remove the infringing information was sent to him by an attorney
from Simsonsen & Musæus, a Norwegian law firm. A link to the DeCSS program
reappeared on the site on December 11, 1999. It is not clear who is
responsible for posting the link. The web site operator is named as Doe
defendant 70 in this Complaint.
46. On information and belief, the DeCSS program first appeared in the
United States, as early as October 25, 1999, on a web site operated by
defendant Pavolich addressed as www.livid.on.openprojects.net.
47. On information and belief, this proprietary information was obtained
by willfully ?hacking? and/or improperly reverse engineering software
created by CSS licensee Xing Technology Corporation (?Xing?). Xing?s
software is and was licensed to users under a license agreement which
specifically prohibits reverse engineering.
48. Since the October 25, 1999 appearance of DeCSS, proprietary CSS
information has been displayed on web sites (or by web sites ?linking? to
other web sites which display the information) in at least 11 states and 11
countries throughout the world. Extensive investigative efforts were
immediately undertaken by DVD CCA and the Motion Picture Association?s
(?MPA?) anti-piracy task force, to locate web sites which were posting
and/or ?linking? to other sites posting the proprietary information, and
Internet service providers which were hosting such sites. The MPA sent
notices to 66 web sites and Internet service providers demanding that this
information be removed immediately. After receiving such notice,
approximately 25 of these web sites and Internet service providers
voluntarily removed the proprietary information or ?links? to the
information at issue. On information and belief, all named defendants
(with the exception of defendant Hanson) and Does 1, 8, 10 through 14, 16,
26, 28, 31, 32, 33, 35, 48 through 54, and 62 through 72 have received
notice through the MPA and refused to remove the information at issue.
Defendant Hanson and the other Doe defendants have not received any notice
to date because their existence has only recently become known.
49. Defendants knew or should have known when they posted or provided
?links? to the DeCSS program on their web sites that it was being made
available by virtue of the unauthorized use of proprietary information and
that they were misusing proprietary confidential information gained through
improper means. This is because the DeCSS program has the capability to
defeat DVD encryption software and, as a result, the DeCSS program allows
users to illegally pirate the copyrighted motion pictures contained on DVD
videos - - activity which is fatal to the DVD video format and the hundreds
of computer and consumer electronics companies whose businesses rely on the
viability of this digital format.
Information posted on Defendants? web sites establishes that they
are fully aware that, in posting or ?linking? to the DeCSS program, they
are wrongfully appropriating proprietary trade secrets. For example:
(a) Defendant McLaughlin explains to visitors of his site: "Mark
of the scofflaw! Here's my local copy of the CSS decryption
software, enjoy[;]"
(b) Defendant Baugh acknowledges that ?I may very well be
sued?.?
(c) Doe defendant 14 challenges: ?I have the money to go to
court. Your call[;]?
(d) in response to the MPA and DVD CCA?s anti-piracy efforts,
including cease and desist letters, defendants Vogt, Blank, and
Doe defendants 4, 9, 23 and 37 provide a ?Note to the lawyers and
other scum ? It was the DVD consortium that f***up, ?[;]?
(e) similarly, defendant Jones explains ?Listen, lawyers, and
those you represent: This is none of your concern. The horse
has been let out[;]? mocking the ?trained weasels you call
lawyers[;]?
(f) Doe defendant 35 states: ?F[_ _ _] da feds! ? ?[h]uh?
Aren?t these files legal? Oh, well, I didn?t know that!?
50. DVD encryption technology was (and is) critical to the adoption and
utilization of the DVD format. Without such copy protection, the motion
picture companies would not have allowed their copyrighted motion pictures
to be available in this new digital video format. Without motion picture
content, there would be no viable market for computer DVD drives and DVD
players, as well as the related computer chips and software necessary to
run these devices. Accordingly, the Defendants? continued misappropriation
of proprietary CSS technology will have a devastating effect on DVD CCA and
many other California businesses in the motion picture, computer, and
consumer electronics industries, who have invested substantial amounts of
mone
y and resources in the development of the DVD video format.
51. The sole business purpose and reason for the existence of DVD CCA, a
trade association headquartered in Morgan Hill, California, is to be the
tri-industry licensing entity and administrator of the CSS technology.
Defendants? continued misappropriation and dissemination of proprietary CSS
technology threatens the existence of the DVD format and, thus, the very
existence of DVD CCA. If the proprietary nature of the CSS technology is
compromised, it will likely mean the end of this California business.
52. The effect of the unlawful activities of the Defendants on the motion
picture industry, centered in California -- as well as on the numerous
California computer and consumer electronics businesses, including 73
companies in California of which there are 42 in Santa Clara County and an
additional 17 in other Bay area locations -- is immeasurable. Apart from
the substantial resources that these industries have invested in the
adoption of the DVD format, the wholesale copying and distribution of
copyrighted motion pictures destroys the motion picture industry?s ability
to protect its intellectual property and destroys the market for the
computer and consumer electronics industries? DVD-based products.
53. In addition to the immediate consequence that copyrighted motion
pictures have been pirated, the ?hack? and disclosure of the CSS
proprietary information has already had a very serious adverse effect on
consumers, in California and elsewhere, in that the introduction of a
related product -- DVD audio -- has been delayed. The major music
companies have indicated that they are not prepared to use a ?compromised?
system to protect their content and have insisted on the creation of a new
technology and system. The launch of DVD audio products, planned for
December 1999, has, thus, been postponed for at least six months while new
copy protection technology is developed, agreed upon, and implemented.
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
(Misappropriation of Trade Secrets)
54. DVD CCA repeats and realleges the allegations of paragraphs 1 through
54 of this Complaint and incorporates them herein by reference.
55. DVD CCA and its predecessors-in-interest have adopted reasonable
measures as described herein to maintain the secrecy of the CSS information
at issue.
56. DVD CCA and its predecessors-in-interest, as well as companies in the
motion picture, computer, and consumer electronics industry have invested
substantial amounts of money and resources in the development of
safeguards, such as the CSS licensing mechanism, to protect copyrighted
material contained on DVD discs. The CSS license and, in particular, how
it protects the DVD technology, is of great commercial importance to DVD
CCA and the motion picture, computer, and consumer electronics industries.
57. The proprietary algorithms and/or ?master keys? of the CSS are
valuable proprietary property and trade secrets currently licensed by DVD
CCA.
58. Defendants knew or should have known when they posted the DeCSS
program on their web sites or provided ?links? to other sites posting this
program, that such program was created through the unauthorized use of
proprietary CSS information, which was illegally ?hacked.?
59. Defendants knew or should have known when they posted or ?linked? to
the DeCSS program that they were misusing confidential, proprietary
information belonging to DVD CCA or one of its predecessors-in-interest
and/or that their activities were improper because such program was
designed specifically to enable users to defeat CSS encryption in order to
illegally pirate DVD videos and, thus, was specifically aimed at infringing
motion picture industry copyrights in the DVD contents.
60. Defendants? posting or ?linking? to the DeCSS program on their web
sites, with full knowledge of its unlawful purpose and despite notice of
its infringing nature and demands to remove the same, constitutes the
willful misappropriation of the CSS trade secrets at issue.
61. As a result of Defendants? misappropriation of its trade secrets, DVD
CCA has suffered and continues to suffer irreparable injury, for which
there is no adequate remedy at law.
62. Defendants? misappropriation of the CSS trade secrets was carried out
in a willful, wanton and reckless manner in disregard of the rights of DVD
CCA.
63. Unless enjoined by the Court, Defendants will continue their
misappropriation of the CSS trade secrets by continuing to post and ?link?
to the proprietary information on their web sites and plaintiff will
continue to suffer irreparable harm.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, DVD CCA prays for judgment:
1. that Defendants have willfully misappropriated the CSS
technology trade secrets;
2. entering a temporary restraining order and preliminary and
permanent injunctions, enjoining and restraining Defendants, their
officers, directors, principals, agents, servants, employees, attorneys,
successors and assigns, and all those acting in concert, combination or
participation with any of them either directly or indirectly, singly or
together, from making any further use or otherwise disclosing or
distributing, on their web sites or elsewhere, or ?linking? to other web
sites which disclose, distribute, or ?link? to any proprietary property or
trade secrets relating to the CSS technology and specifically enjoining
Defendants, its officers, directors, principals, agents, servants,
employees, attorneys, successors and assigns, and all those acting in
concert, combination or participation with any of them either directly or
indirectly, singly or together, from copying, duplicating, licensing,
selling, distributing, publishing, leasing, renting or otherwise marketing
the DeCSS computer program and all other products containing, using, and/or
substantially derived from CSS proprietary property or trade secrets;
3. awarding to DVD CCA the costs of this action, reasonable
attorneys fees, and such further and other relief as is found just and
proper.
|----------------------------------------->
| |
| Dated: December 28, 1999 |
| |
|----------------------------------------->
>-----------------------------------------|
| |
| WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP |
| |
>-----------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------->
| |
| |
| |
|----------------------------------------->
>-----------------------------------------|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| By: |
| JARED B. BOBROW |
| (State Bar. No.133712) |
| |
| Attorneys for Plaintiff |
| DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. |
| |
>-----------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------->
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|----------------------------------------->
>-----------------------------------------|
| |
| |
| OF COUNSEL: |
| |
>-----------------------------------------|
WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP
ROBERT G. SUGARMAN** Pro hac vice applications being submitted to the
Court.
JEFFREY L. KESSLER*
EDWARD J. BURKE
JONATHAN S. SHAPIRO*
767 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10153
Telephone: (212) 310-8000
Facsimile: (212) 310-8007
**********NOTE**********
The information contained in this email message is intended only
for use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader
of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or
agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or
copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you
have received this communication in error, please immediately
notify us by telephone (212-310-8000), and destroy the original
message. Thank you.