How much will they claim CSS is worth?

[Sandy Harris]

Michael Motyka wrote:
> 
> Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com> wrote :
> >
> >[TRADE SECRETS]
> >California Court Says Trade Secrets Theft Can Get Jail Time
> >      The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the theft of
> >trade secrets worth more than $50,000 can trigger a state statute
> >requiring a minimum county jail sentence as a condition of probation. The
> >ruling arose in a matter involving an electrical engineer charged with the
> >theft of confidential design specifications for computer chips.
> >      Read the article: law.com @
> >http://www.law.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/View&>c=LawArticle&cid=1024078985514&t=LawArticleIP
> >
> I'm not sure I get the connection. It sounds like the guy stole
> documentation from his employer. No sympathy from me.

Agreed.

> Tell me if I'm wrong but DeCSS was the result of a reverse engineering
> effort on materials publicly available.

Yes, but the suit filed in California by DVD CCA claimed this was theft
of trade secrets and a violation of the license agreement. Methinks this
is obviously nonsense, but the judge may disagree.