IP: Tech-Savvy Indiana Student Snared in California Court

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Advisory
>
> For Immediate Release: July 11, 2001
>
> Contact:
>
> Allonn Levy, Attorney, HS Law Group, +1 408 295-7034 x384,
>   ael () hsapc com
>
> Robin Gross, Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation,
>   +1 415 436-9333 x112, robin () eff org
>
>
> Tech-Savvy Indiana Student Snared in California Court
>
> Court Reconsiders Due Process for Alleged Software Publisher
>
>
> Debate over whether Indiana student Matthew Pavlovich
> must appear in a DVD software publication case will continue
> tomorrow, July 12, in a California court. In December 2000,
> a unanimous California Supreme Court ruled that the
> appellate court must reconsider its decision requiring
> Pavlovich to defend himself in a California court.
>
> The movie industry trade group DVD-CCA continues attempts
> to force Pavlovich and 500 anonymous posters located all
> over the world to defend themselves against alleged trade
> secret misappropriation despite the hardships these
> alleged web publishers would face in a legal battle fought
> far from their homes.
>
> "The importance of Constitutional restrictions on the reach
> of state courts has never been more important than in the
> Internet age," said Pavlovich's attorney Allonn Levy, of
> the HS Law Group. "Without the proper application of these
> safeguards, the Internet will become a liability minefield
> for users, facing nation-wide legal exposure anytime they
> publish to the Internet, dramatically chilling speech on
> the Web," explained the San Jose litigator.
>
> "The US Constitution's due process clause guarantees that
> you will not be sued in Santa Clara, California, 2000 miles
> away from the Indiana student dormitory where you surf the
> web," stated Robin Gross, EFF staff attorney for
> intellectual property and Pavlovich's co-counsel.
>
> In December 1999, DVD-CCA sued hundreds of individuals,
> including Indiana college student Matthew Pavlovich, for
> allegedly publishing DeCSS software on a website that hosted
> various Linux-based open-source projects.
>
> The movie industry, represented by its trade group DVD-CCA,
> filed the lawsuit in California alleging trade secret
> misappropriation.  The suit attempts to force Pavlovich and
> 500 anonymous posters located all over the world to defend
> their Internet publication of the software in California.
>
> Trial and appellate courts both denied Pavlovich's
> motion for dismissal, but in a rare move last December,
> the California Supreme Court unanimously granted
> Pavlovich's petition for review and sent the matter back to
> the appellate court for argument on why the non-California
> resident with no connection to the state should remain in
> the case.
>
> The U.S. Constitution's due process clause limits a state
> court's ability to assert power over out-of-state
> defendants who have no connection with that state.
>
> DeCSS is free software that allows people to play DVDs
> without technological restrictions, such as region codes,
> preferred by movie studios.
>
> At a January 2000 hearing, Santa Clara County Superior Court
> Judge William Elfving ordered defendants to remove postings
> of DeCSS pending the case's outcome at trial. The 6th
> Appellate Circuit court will hear EFF's appeal of Elfving's
> ruling this fall.
>
> The appeals court has stayed the alleged trade secret
> misappropriation case pending the outcome of Pavlovich's
> jurisdictional motion.
>
> The California 6th Appellate Court will hear arguments
> on the case on Thursday, July 12th at 9:30 a.m. at
> 333 W. Santa Clara St., 10th floor, in San Jose,
> California.  For directions see
> http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/courtsofappeal/6thDistrict/
>
> See Pavlovich's appellate motion to dismiss for lack of
> jurisdiction:
> http://www.eff.org/sc/dvdcca/20000921_pavlovich_appeal.html
>
> See DVD-CCA's opposition to original request for dismissal:
> http://www.eff.org/sc/dvdcca/20000825_dvdcca_opp.html
>
> EFF's Archive on California DeCSS case:
> http://www.eff.org/pub/Intellectual_property/DVDCCA_case/
>
> Cryptome.org Archive with more legal filings:
> http://cryptome.org/cryptout.htm#DVD-DeCSS
>
>
> About EFF:
>
> The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
> liberties organization working to protect rights in the
> digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages
> and challenges industry and government to support free
> expression, privacy, and openness in the information
> society. EFF is a member-supported organization and
> maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world:
> http://www.eff.org/
>
>                         -end-



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