A lot of information is coming down the news wires today, regarding the DeCSS utility that circumvents the encoding on DVDs that was supposed to prevent illegal copying of the discs. The reason is a major lawsuit that was filed by a coalition of parties, consisting of many Hollywood majors, taking 21 individuals and 72 Internet websites to court for making the utility available to the public. The industry group, called the DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. has started up operation after the “DeCSS” utility first showed up on the Internet in November and has obviously devised a plan to proceed against the violation of their properties.

As we have pointed out before, the direct outcome of such a lawsuit is dubious at best, but it is definitely a clear signal to the hacking community that has lost any respect for intellectual properties over the years. Especially with the explosive growth of DVD in the past months and during this Christmas season, the proper protection of their content is more important to DVD publishers than ever.

Here’s an article from CNet that discusses some of the details behind the lawsuit and the newly formed coalition to take on the fight against DVD piracy. If you want some additional take on the subject, here is an article from ZDNet.