New York Times: Movie Industry Frowns on Professor's Software Gallery

Apr 01, 2001, 13:00 (19 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by David F. Gallagher)

"Prof. David S. Touretzky, a computer scientist at Carnegie-Mellon University, says he has never watched a movie on DVD, much less copied one illegally. So why is the movie industry calling him a pirate?"

"The answer can be found on a university site which houses an unusual Web project launched by Professor Touretzky - a project which has turned him into something of a celebrity in Internet legal circles. His site is a gallery devoted to representations of a piece of software that has been deemed illegal because it can be used to break through the copy-protection system on DVD movies."

"Last month, Professor Touretzky received an e-mail message from the anti-piracy division of the Motion Picture Association of America, the trade group representing major studios, referring to "unauthorized distribution of copyrighted motion pictures" on the site."

Complete Story

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