[WikiEN-l] Press coverage listing the HD-DVD key

[David Gerard]

On 04/05/07, Joe Szilagyi <szilagyi at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm just curious. Isn't it a technical violation of US law/DMCA to link back
> to pages that include infringing material? Or was that just for basic
> copyright status? If so, can we link to news sources that include the key?


We do. See [[HD DVD encryption key controversy]]. "Several US-based
news sources have run stories containing the key, quoting its use on
Digg. [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] None are known to have received DMCA
notices as a result."


> Also, has any active lawyer weighed in on this legally, that we can go by?


Nope. The Foundation is Not Expressing An Opinion.


> FWIW, I think if we have multiple RS reporting on the key itself, that we
> would be legally covered if we documented what they were reporting on. But
> I'm not an attorney.


I would think so too. And I'm not an attorney either, but I *am*
someone with practical experience of putting up material that thugs
with money don't want up [*]. And if they don't bring action against
all those US news sources for reporting the key itself, and then bring
an actual case when (not if) those news sources tell them to fuck off,
and then win said case, they're fucked and we are *so* in the clear.


- d.


[*] Scientology wars. The stuff at our article [[Xenu]] - particularly
the piece of L. Ron Hubbard's handwriting - got [[Dennis Erlich]] and
[[Arnaldo Lerma]]'s houses raided by copyright police. This won't
happen ever again because so many people rose up in abject disgust at
such a thing occurring, including particularly [[David S. Touretzky]],
who put up an academic treatment of it the Church of Scientology
couldn't touch. Now, I'm not saying this will play out just like that
- I think it'll be a lot quicker and easier to a win. But when I
express an opinion in this thread, I'm speaking as someone who's been
there, done that and watched up close as others have done it.