Teen Hacker, Hollywood Nemesis, on Trial
Source: Yahoo! News
on Lech Johansen was only 15 when he wrote and distributed on the Internet for free a program that unlocked copy-protected DVDs, giving Hollywood nightmares and making him a folk hero among hackers.
Three years later, he's going on trial in an important test case for Norway's strict laws against computer piracy and hacking.
The proceedings begin Monday in Oslo District Court and are expected to last five days, with Johansen taking the stand. But whatever the trial's outcome, the digital copycat is well out of the bag.
The short program Johansen wrote is only one of many easily available programs that can break DVD security codes. One is included in a software package, sold by a U.S. company, that even burns DVDs after cracking the copy protection.
Johansen has refused to talk to reporters ahead of his trial. But his defense attorney, Halvor Manshaus, said the teenager has done nothing wrong, having only written a small program using security-breaking code developed and sent to him by others.
