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By John Borland
Posted on ZDNet News: Jul 26, 2004 11:06:00 PM

A California judge has ordered a multimedia chipmaker to stop selling versions of its products that were used in DVD-copying devices.

The Motion Picture Association of America said Monday that it had found chips from ESS Technology, based in Fremont, Calif., inside a device that allowed DVDs to be copied. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis issued an order Friday that blocked the manufacturer from selling its chips to any other device maker producing similar products.

"By selling chips to unlicensed manufacturers, ESS was effectively enabling wholesale piracy," Dan Robbins, the MPAA's chief technology counsel, said in a statement.

The case is part of Hollywood's ongoing battle to keep DVD-copying technology off the market and the Internet, despite widespread availability of underground software that will break through the discs' copy protection.

Earlier in the year, the MPAA successfully stopped the sale of 321 Studios' DVD X Copy, which had sold nearly 1 million copies online and in retail outlets like CompUSA. Previously, it had sued to stop the distribution of DeCSS, code that can be used to work around DVD encryption.

Any hardware manufacturer that makes DVD players needs to have permission from a Hollywood technology group called the DVD Copy Control Association in order to be able to decrypt the information stored on DVDs. ESS' customer, unnamed by the MPAA, did not have that right, the group said.

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  • Most Recent of 83 Talkback(s)
You're not buying goods
You're buying use of an intellectual property. And that means if you can't use it you have to recieve a replacement. It's not a consumable item. But it seems like the RIAA and MIAA have deluded themse... (Read the rest)
Posted by: lengua99 Posted on: 07/30/04 You are currently: Logged In as: a Guest  | Login | Terms of Use
now what i'm wondering is...  ryusen | 07/26/04
well sense a dvd can be copied without a chip  V Sanders | 07/26/04
ESS  Yagotta B. Kidding | 07/27/04
AMEN ... YBK  E=McSquared | 07/27/04
Exact-a-mundo!  tgrady | 07/29/04
hmmmmmmmmm  V Sanders | 07/26/04
cd sales up 7% - must be due to p2p  V Sanders | 07/26/04
want to stop dvd\cd\game copying  V Sanders | 07/26/04
That's the whole point  Mack DaNife | 07/26/04
agreed...  ryusen | 07/27/04
Jack Valenti...?  sevej | 07/29/04
Another Notch In The Headress  ParadigmOdyssey | 07/26/04
Huh?  Patrick Jones | 07/27/04
I again cannot stress this point enough...  Stellardyne | 07/27/04
You don't understand...  BitTwiddler | 07/27/04
Wrong! The consumer counts for everything.  bjbrock | 07/27/04
True but you have it backwards  voska | 07/27/04
Sorry, the consumer doesn't agree with you.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
the vast majority...  ryusen | 07/27/04
That is YOUR point of view, not mine.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
like i said....  ryusen | 07/27/04
Sad  ParadigmOdyssey | 07/27/04
the emperor's clothes...  ryusen | 07/27/04
Why is that???  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
It doesn't take neglect for ...  bjbrock | 07/27/04
Limited trued but  voska | 07/27/04
Nothing I can think of is "unlimited"  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
But,...  Spoon Jabber | 07/27/04
No buts,,,  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
Ooops,  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
Exactly!  Spoon Jabber | 07/27/04
did you read the article?  ryusen | 07/27/04
zz: Yes they are selling others "property"  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
from the article:  ryusen | 07/27/04
What IF???  E=McSquared | 07/27/04
So's my lawnmower  rapson | 07/27/04
If you could copy a lawn mower at minimal cost  voska | 07/27/04
But that isn't what this is about.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
Crime is only implied  E=McSquared | 07/27/04
Why should they replace it?  Stellardyne | 07/27/04
Microsoft does  voska | 07/27/04
Shows what a great company they are.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
They are pretty good with customer service  voska | 07/27/04
furthermore  buxxmaster | 07/27/04
Copying a DVD can be done securely  voska | 07/27/04
This case is NOT about copying.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
Wrong!  bchesmer | 07/27/04
Wrong again!  bchesmer | 07/27/04
Here's one  Confused by religion | 07/27/04
Adobe  ryusen | 07/27/04
Most manufactures cover normal...  bchesmer | 07/27/04
You're not buying goods  lengua99 | 07/30/04
Something smells here....  John E Wahd | 07/27/04
They have realized that the consumer...  bjbrock | 07/27/04
Sounds misleading  Nigel Johnstone | 07/27/04
Just in....  zmud | 07/27/04
basement?  lotta_anger | 07/27/04
Is that where you live?  Spoon Jabber | 07/27/04
want to stop dvd copying etc.  lotta_anger | 07/27/04
GET DVD DECRYPT/DVD SHRINK  itanalyst | 07/27/04
That's a pretty good program  Spoon Jabber | 07/27/04
Freedom Of The Press  RobertoSalazar | 07/27/04
Exactly!!!  bjbrock | 07/27/04
No it won't, buy more DVDs!  voska | 07/27/04
That has never been the case!  bjbrock | 07/27/04
No it's not  voska | 07/27/04
The reason foreign cars are being...  bjbrock | 07/27/04
But your falling for the smokescreen  voska | 07/27/04
Correct  voska | 07/27/04
I have to disagree with you...  bchesmer | 07/27/04
Senseless  theding0 | 07/27/04
Boycotts, and how they work  theding0 | 07/27/04
But you can get them for nothing  voska | 07/27/04
Oh PULEASE.......  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
You Miss the Point Bud  RobertoSalazar | 07/27/04
Did they have a legal license to the copyrighted code?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
TINCC  Yagotta B. Kidding | 07/27/04
Sorry, you are wrong.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
I thinks it's patented too  voska | 07/27/04
Yup, you are 100% correct.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/27/04
Here's why this went to court!  bchesmer | 07/27/04
Exactly.....  E=McSquared | 07/28/04
My son used Shrek as Frisbee  cmichal32@... | 07/29/04

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