From: Don Marti <dmarti@zgp.org> Subject: Great International DVD Source Code Distribution Contest Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 22:19:05 GMT INTERNET CONTEST TO PROMOTE WORLDWIDE SPREAD OF DVD SOFTWARE FOR LINUX December 30, 1999 For Immediate Release In response to baseless legal threats by the motion picture industry, Internet users have begun a worldwide contest to develop creative methods to distribute free software to play DVD movies under Linux. The contest is based in the Bay Area and will be judged by local Linux and Internet experts. An industry organization called the DVD CCA recently attempted to get a temporary restraining order to prohibit Internet distribution of DVD software for Linux, even though it the software is only useful for playing DVD movies, not for copying one DVD to another, and was written from scratch, not by violating the copyright of any previous software. There have been no reported cases of anyone using Linux software to make illegal copies of DVD movies -- only to watch them. The three winners of the contest will be the person who distributes the most copies of DVD software for Linux, and the people who develop the best "high-tech" and the best "low-tech" methods for doing do. "The contest is a direct response to legal bullying by DVD CCA," said organizer Donald B. Marti Jr. "A well-financed industry organization is threatening independent web sites, when Linux users are only trying to watch the movies they already paid for." There have been no reports of anyone using Linux software to make illegal copies of DVD movies -- only to watch them. The Great International DVD Source Code Distribution Contest web site is located at: http://dvd.zgp.org/ The prizes will be DVD movies. -- Don Marti | Use GIF images? You may already be a dmarti@zgp.org | criminal. http://zgp.org/~dmarti | whois DM683 | http://burnallgifs.org/