The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on Thusday
announced that its member companies have resolved a breach of contract lawsuit involving DVD chips that do not support the Content Scramble System (CSS).
This is the sixth such lawsuit that has concluded with a court-ordered injunction mandating a DVD chip manufacturer to adhere to the content security features of the CSS license. With the new injunction against Sunplus Technology Co., Inc., the world?s second largest DVD chip manufacturer, all of the major DVD chip manufacturers are now bound by court order to support the CSS license. The studios now plan to focus greater attention on other products, such as DVD players, that may also violate the license.
The Content Scramble System (CSS) is the protection system prevents movies from being illegally duplicated. CSS is a two-part system for which manufacturers of both the movie content (discs) and hardware or software (players) purchase licenses. The information on DVD discs is encrypted. The DVD players - either a computer drive or a home video player - have technology to 'decrypt' the information so it can be viewed.
According to MPAA, violating the CSS licence exposes copyrighted material to piracy.
The DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) is a corporation with responsibility for licensing CSS to manufacturers of DVD hardware, discs and related products.