DVD Jon to work for Michael Robertson

GuNgA-DiN writes "Jon Lech Johansen, the 21-year-old Norwegian media hacker nicknamed DVD Jon, is moving to San Diego to work for maverick tech entrepreneur Michael Robertson in what can only be described as the most portentous team-up since Butch met Sundance. "I have no idea what I'll be doing, but I know it will be reverse engineering, and I'm sure it will be interesting," Johansen told Wired News during a Friday stopover in San Francisco. Robertson's website reveals that they are working on a new project and all he said was: "Oboe is the code name for a significant new project we have underway that will launch before the end of the year. It's as momentous as anything I've ever done in my technical career, but I won't say more since I despise vaporware. I know this project will be even better with Jon on board.""

More info at WSJ Story and Jon's Blog

[Hulkster]

The WSJ story can be read here [post-gazette.com] and has some interesting insights as Jon as a person. Also check out Jon's Blog [nanocrew.net] that is appopriately (?) titled "So sue me"

Hulk'in Halloween Display/Webcam is up [komar.org]

Wired Story

[hojna]

The WIRED [wired.com] story is here. It is more indepth then the WSJ article.

Re:Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

[Kjella]

This may be true but, I'd be surprised if it really were. I thought only the US had the DMCA.

And Europe has the EUCD, aka Euro-DMCA. The directive was approved in 2002 (2001?) and implemented in Norway this summer due to the EEA agreement with EU, most of EU has it as well by now. We managed to get an even odder twist in, because it made a huge media thing as "the MP3 law". The law states:

"Bestemmelsen i første ledd skal heller ikke være til hinder for privat brukers tilegnelse av lovlig anskaffet verk på det som i alminnelighet oppfattes som relevant avspillingsutstyr."

Translated:
"The first paragraph is also not to hinder private users' use of legally acquired work on what is in common recognized as relevant playback equipment."

Of course, they completely ignored that part when it comes to creation and distribution of "circumvention devices". So the current state of making any fair use is:

USA: Distributing tools illegal - Circumvention illegal - Copyright legal.
Norway: Distributing tools illegal - Circumvention legal - Copyright legal.

They did another nice end-run around consumer rights. Right now, I think that fight is not going to be heard. The legal battle for fair use is completely lost in the war between copyright holders and pirates.

Not broken at all

[andersh]

No, our system is quite nice really compared to the US. Being a lawyer I might be biased - but I believe we have a just and fair system for our citizens. Big companies don't enjoy any special rights here - other than having the money to hire the best lawyers. Public defenders are not that bad at all. And there is significant support from the government should you need legal help - it will only cost money if you want to hire something above the level of a qualified representative. It's free if you can't afford to pay for legal assistance [when defending yourself]. If you want to take an issue to court it's another matter - then again it's your choice and your risk.