October 1999
DeCSS DVD decryption code published
In October 1999, programmers including Jon Lech Johansen published DeCSS — software that decrypted DVDs by breaking the Content Scramble System (CSSCascading Style Sheets — the language for layout, color, and typography on web pages.).
What it was for
DeCSS turned DVDDigital versatile disc — optical media with higher capacity than CDs for video and data. ripping from hardware hack into copy-paste code — posted to mailing lists and T-shirts, then litigated under the DMCADigital Millennium Copyright Act — U.S. law on DRM circumvention and online copyright safe harbors.. The prosecution of Dmitry Sklyarov at DEF CONThe world's largest hacker convention — security research, talks, and contests in Las Vegas. 2001 made exporting reverse-engineering a felony debate. It was the warez scene's crossover into mainstream civil-liberties fights over fair use and interoperability.
Why it's here
DeCSS was the first high-profile DMCADigital Millennium Copyright Act — U.S. law on DRM circumvention and online copyright safe harbors. battle over code-as-speech.
Why it mattered
It established that breaking DRMDigital rights management — technology restricting how users copy or play media and software. could be criminal even for interoperability research.
What it solved
Linux users could not play legally purchased DVDs without a licensed CSSCascading Style Sheets — the language for layout, color, and typography on web pages. decoder.
Media
- ImageDeCSS
Quadell, vectorized by Scaler, GPL, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act signed into U.S. lawOctober 28, 1998
- DEF CON hacker conference beginsJune 9, 1993
- Warez scene group Razor 1911 foundedOctober 1985