In DVD Copy Control Assoc., Inc. v. Bunner, a California Appeals Court overturned a grant of a preliminary injunction against Andrew Bunner, who posted the DeCSS code to a web site. DeCSS is used to encrypt DVD content.
Jason Schultz: EFF wins DVD-CCA v. Bunner Appeal
EFF: Court Overturns Ban on Posting DVD Descrambling Code, Finding a Free-Speech Violation
Ernest Miller: DeCSS Injunction Lifted in Trade Secrets Case: “This is a solid, black letter law decision.”
Doug Simpson: What DVD CCA v. Bunner is NOT
It does not protect one who is the first to crack a secret and then misappropriate or share it. It does not protect those who share misappropriated secrets in a closed community. It does not protect one from potential liability under laws other than the Uniform Trade Secret Act (UTSA). Those might include federal laws such as the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) or state laws such as California Penal Code Sections 499c or 1203.33 or proposed federal or state laws protecting databases.
