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Norwegian Consumer Group Targets Online Music Store Terms

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 30, 2006 - 7:44am.
Hannover, Germany - A Norwegian consumer advocacy group has filed a formal complaint against Apple Computer, Microsoft and other providers of online music stores, arguing they violate Norwegian law, the German newspaper Heise Online reported. The Consumer Council of Norway is concerned with the fact that the terms of iTunes downloads may be changed after they are purchased; that Apple disclaims liability if iTunes is responsible for opening security risks on computers; and that purchased songs can only be played on an iPod. In addition, Apple stipulates that all of its European iTunes stores operate under the laws of Great Britain, which the CCN said is a violation of Norway's Marketing Control Act. The CCN is asking a court to compel Apple to change the terms and conditions of its Norwegian iTunes Store.
tags: Internet | Music | Norwegian |

Norwegian Game Developer Funcom Raises $5.4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 27, 2004 - 2:51am.
Oslo, Norway -- Norwegian console and PC game developer Funcom announced on Tuesday that it has received a $5.4 million equity investment from new investor Northzone Ventures, and existing investors Teknoinvest and Stelt Holding. Funcom mainly develops massively multiplayer online games, including "Anarchy Online," and said it is currently at work on three such titles. The company will use the funds to increase the scope and quality of future games, while expanding its global sales and marketing initiatives.
tags: Games | Funcom | Norwegian |

Norwegian Browser Maker Opera Releases Details of Upcoming IPO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 26, 2004 - 7:48am.
Oslo -- Opera, a Norway-based developer of Internet browser technology that competes with Internet Explorer, Netscape and Mozilla, released full details of its planned initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday. The privately held company will launch on the Oslo Stock Exchange on March 11, issuing between 12.5 and 16.1 million shares with an indicative price range between $1.13-1.41, valuing Opera at between $27.5-39.5 million. Industry experts say Opera's IPO could be the first of many hi-tech flotations this year, a reversal that surely will be welcomed by the European technology sector after a nearly three-year IPO drought. Opera's subscription period will close March 10, the company said.
tags: IPO | Opera | Releases | Norwegian |

Twice-Acquitted "DVD Jon" Sues Norwegian Govt. for $21,800 in Legal Fees

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2004 - 2:24am.
San Jose, Calif. -- TiVo, a developer of digital video recorder equipment and services, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Palo Alto, Calif.-based Strangeberry, a developer of home networking technology. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. TiVo said the acquisition will aid in its goal to expand TiVo functionality beyond recording television programming, and that Strangeberry's technology will enable the development of new broadband-based content delivery services.
tags: Law | Norwegian | DVD Jon | Twice-Acquitted |

"DVD Jon" Secures Victory after Norwegian Police Drop Appeal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 5, 2004 - 4:24am.
Oslo -- Jon Johansen, also known as "DVD Jon," on Monday won a major victory against Norwegian police authorities and the U.S. film industry after local police confirmed they would not appeal a recent ruling on DVD piracy for a second time. Johansen had allegedly broken the law by distributing a computer program on the Internet allowing the unauthorized copying of DVDs. An appeals court in Oslo, however, cleared the notorious 20-year-old last month of piracy charges that had been filed by Norwegian police, who in turn had brought the charges against Johansen on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America.
tags: Norwegian | Victory | DVD Jon | Drop Appeal |

Retrial of Norwegian DVD Hacker Ends; Ruling Expected Dec. 22

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 11, 2003 - 5:23am.
Oslo -- The retrial of a Norwegian who as a teenager who cracked the encryption technology protecting DVD movies from being freely copied ended on Thursday, with prosecutors asking the judge for a guilty verdict and 90-day suspended jail term, Reuters reported. Norway's Economic Crime Unit mounted the appeal at the behest of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which also lobbied for the original case to be brought against Jon Johansen, creator of the DeCSS computer code. The Norwegian court acquitted Johansen in January, saying that he was free to do whatever he wanted to with his legally purchased DVDs. Prosecutors told the Oslo Appeals Court that a 45-day suspended sentence was also acceptable, if the judge did not accept their argument that the film industry suffered damages as a result of Johansen's actions. A ruling is due on Dec. 22.
tags: DVD | Norwegian | Retrial |

Norwegian DVD Security Hacker Takes on Apple's iTunes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 25, 2003 - 7:01am.
Oslo -- The Norwegian hacker Jon Lech Johansen, nicknamed "DVD Jon," who broke the encryption code for DVDs when he was 15 years old, has struck again, Norwegian online news daily IT-avisen reported this week. DVD Jon has reportedly now posted software code that can be used to evade the copy-protection technology embedded on songs purchased from Apple's iTunes digital music store, so that the songs may be freely copied. CNET News.com reported that, "if other developers -- or Johansen himself -- pursue the project, it could herald the arrival of simple ripping programs that could create unprotected music files from iTunes songs as simply as from an ordinary compact disc."
tags: Apple | DVD | iTunes | Norwegian | Hacker |

Norwegian Teenager Faces New Trial On DVD-Cracking Charges

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 1, 2003 - 3:34am.
Oslo -- A Norwegian teenager acquitted on charges he violated copyright law by creating a program that can crack the encryption security on DVD discs will now face a new trial, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Jon Johansen was acquitted in January of charges brought by the Norwegian government at the behest of the U.S. Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), related to his creation of the computer code "DeCSS," which Johansen created to allow DVDs to play on PCs running the Linux operating system. The DeCSS code may also be used illegally to copy DVDs, and its publication by several parties in the U.S. has spawned lawsuits under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Johansen's attorney, Halvor Manshaus, told Reuters that the Borgarting appeals court will begin hearing the appeal on Dec. 2. "I regard our prospects for the appeal as positive. We are in a stronger position now than ever before since we won the first time," Manshaus told Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=2487095 http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DeCSS_prosecutions/Johansen_DeCSS_case
tags: Norwegian | Teenager | DVD-Cracking |

Norwegian Student Fined For Online Music Piracy

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 24, 2003 - 5:08am.
Lillehammer, Norway -- A court has fined a 24-year-old Norwegian student about $14,520 over his song-swapping website in a ruling welcomed as a victory by the music industry, which has blamed sagging sales on Internet music piracy. The case followed similar rulings in neighboring Sweden and Denmark in favor of the industry. The court ruled that Frank Bruvik broke the law when offering links to unauthorized downloadable music files at his Napster.no website. "This was the most high-profile piracy site in Norway for downloading music and an important victory for us," Saemund Fiskvik, director general of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in Norway, told Reuters. http://shorterlink.com/?196CH8
tags: Internet | Piracy | Musics | Norwegian | Students |

Norwegian Prosecutors Appeal Acquittal of DVD-Cracking Code Writer

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 21, 2003 - 6:17am.
Oslo, Norway -- Prosecutors in Norway have appealed the acquittal of a teenager who was charged with creating DeCSS, a computer code that can crack the security technology on DVD discs. Jon Johansen, who was 15 years old when he created DeCSS, was acquitted on Jan. 7 of all charges brought at the behest of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents Hollywood movie studios. The prosecution appealed the acquittal on grounds of legal interpretation, evidence and errors it claims were made in the first trial. "There were some principles for storing and distributing data on new media that the court should have considered," Norwegian prosecutor Rune Floisbonn told the Norwegian news agency NTB. Johansen's attorney, Halvor Manshaus, said in a statement that, "If the appeal is granted, this means that there will be full proceedings before the appeal court on all aspects of the case." http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DeCSS_prosecutions/Johansen_DeCSS_ case/20030120_eff_pr.php http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=528&ncid=528&e= 5&u=/ap/20030121/ap_on_hi_te/dvd_kid
tags: DVD | Norwegian | Prosecutors | Code Writer |

Norwegian Teenager Johansen Found Not Guilty of DVD Piracy

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2003 - 7:32am.
Oslo, Norway -- A Norwegian teenager on trial for his role in creating DeCSS, a controversial computer code that can crack the anti-copying technology on DVDs, has been found not guilty on all charges. Norwegian prosecutors had asked for a suspended 90-day jail sentence for 19-year-old Jon Johansen, who was sued in Norway after a complaint was filed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents Hollywood movie studios. "The court has made a very solid legal and factual ruling," said Halvor Manshaus, Johansen's lawyer. "It helped tremendously that the lead judge was assisted by two expert judges who are computer specialists." Several U.S. publishers have been sued by movie studios for distributing the DeCSS code on the Internet, in several cases that are being closely watched by both the entertainment and technology communities.
tags: Norwegian | Johansen | DVD Piracy |