DeCSS timeline

2000

• August 17.In the MPAA vs DeCSS case, judge Kaplan (New York District) says DeCSS is not free speech but an encryption circumvention device and as such illegal under the DMCA. Distribution, via downloading or linking, is considered to be illegal in New York. [ CNet | Slashdot | Final Judgement (pdf) ]
• March 6. MPAA files suit against 2600.com who hosts a list of links to sites carrying DeCSS. [ Wired ]
• Januari 24. Jon Johansen gets indicted, arrested and is held for questioning. [ slashdot | CNET ]
• Januari 21. A preliminary injunction is issued against "website operators" who host the DeCSS program. [ slashdot | cryptome ]
• Januari 19. The source to the CSS de-scrambling routines appear in hardcopy court proceedings, which are immediately put online and mirrored worldwide. [ cryptome | wwcn ]

1999

• December 28. The DVD-CA files suit against individuals who host DeCSS on their websites, for distributing a device "designed" to circumvent copy-protections. [ CNET ]
• December 17. The MPAA revokes the Xing Player keys that were used in DeCSS. [ USA Today ]
• November 28. WWCN mirror of DeCSS related stuff put online at http://www.wwcn.org/~grit/free
• November 9. Jon Johansen takes all DeCSS related stuff off the web in reaction to a legal letter he received November 8. [ LiVid ]
• November 4. The big media are picking up the availability of the DVD decryption tool [ CNET ]
• October 27. Frank Andrew Stevenson posts a working brute-force playerkey cracker. [ LiVid ]
• October 6. DeCSS 1.1b for Windows was released. [ LiVid ]
• September 22. LiVid list takes notice of the cracking of CSS. [ LiVid ]
• September 22. DoD releases "speedripper 1.0", a Windows application to read a DVD. [ LiVid ]
• mid September. DoD (Drink or Die) manages to get CSS descrambling code working [ LiVid ]. The code was sent to the LiVid list (via contact-person Derek Fawcus) [ LiVid ] He is not the only one on the right track, MoRE (Master of Reverse Engineering, a german hacker) is doing independent work.