“The motion picture industry’s effort to ban computer code that
subverts its DVD encryption scheme has suffered a setback in
California, with the state’s high court issuing an order that could
see many of the defendants dropped from the closely watched
case.”
“The California Supreme Court on Thursday effectively ordered a
lower court to show why defendant Matthew Pavlovich should remain
in the case even though he is not a California resident.”
“The order applies only to Pavlovich and does not ensure he will
be removed from the suit, but it could signal that the end is near
for many defendants in the year-old case: Of 21 defendants listed
by name in court papers, 18 do not live in California, according to
Pavlovich’s attorney, Allon Levy.”
“This is an important case for free speech on the Internet,” he
said. “The defendants are not alleged to have created the code but
only to have found it and republished it. The standard of how you
know it’s been misappropriated is very vague.”