Viodentia
Encyclopedia
viodentia is a pseudonym used by the creator of FairUse4WM, a program that removes Microsoft's copy protection technology
from Windows Media Video
(".WMV") files. These files are used by popular music download sites such as Rhapsody
, Yahoo! Music
, and Napster
.
("DRM", a form of copy protection) to ensure that media and other downloads are unable to be copied for software piracy or other improper purposes.
This copy protection system also has the effect of preventing what would otherwise be claimed as fair use
- legitimate owners backing up paid downloads in case of loss or damage to their computer data, or for use in on other devices where legal to do so.
A lawsuit was later filed by Microsoft, on the basis that FairUse4WM contained proprietary computer code from Microsoft’s Windows and/or was a derivative work of Microsoft’s Windows Media Format SDK or other Microsoft DRM technologies.
According to an interview published by the weblog Engadget
, Viodentia does not live in the United States
.
filed a federal lawsuit against John Doe
s 1-10 a/k/a "viodentia", hoping to identify the person or persons. An online post by Viodentia contains an implicit defense against Microsoft's allegations of copyright infringement
:
Unable to identify or locate Viodentia, Microsoft dropped the lawsuit without prejudice in 2007.
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
from Windows Media Video
Windows Media Video
'Windows Media Video is a video compression format for several proprietary codecs developed by Microsoft. The original video format, known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other formats, such as WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater...
(".WMV") files. These files are used by popular music download sites such as Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
, Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
, and Napster
Napster (pay service)
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a file sharing service. For more information about its founding mission as a free file sharing service, see Napster.-History:...
.
Background
A number of prominent websites use digital rights managementDigital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
("DRM", a form of copy protection) to ensure that media and other downloads are unable to be copied for software piracy or other improper purposes.
This copy protection system also has the effect of preventing what would otherwise be claimed as fair use
Fair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
- legitimate owners backing up paid downloads in case of loss or damage to their computer data, or for use in on other devices where legal to do so.
viodentia and FairUse4WM
"viodentia" is the pseudonym of one or more individuals who wrote software that would enable users to remove the protection mechanism from their media, thus allowing it to be copied for legal use. Forum posts under the name "viodentia" stated in 2006 that the program was to enable exercize of fair-use rights only, and excluded import of cryptographic data needed for piracy usage.A lawsuit was later filed by Microsoft, on the basis that FairUse4WM contained proprietary computer code from Microsoft’s Windows and/or was a derivative work of Microsoft’s Windows Media Format SDK or other Microsoft DRM technologies.
According to an interview published by the weblog Engadget
Engadget
Engadget is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. Though on appearance Engadget functions much like a blog and may be defined as such, much of its editorial content takes the form of an online magazine...
, Viodentia does not live in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Lawsuit
On 22 September 2006, MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
filed a federal lawsuit against John Doe
John Doe
The name "John Doe" is used as a placeholder name in a legal action, case or discussion for a male party, whose true identity is unknown or must be withheld for legal reasons. The name is also used to refer to a male corpse or hospital patient whose identity is unknown...
s 1-10 a/k/a "viodentia", hoping to identify the person or persons. An online post by Viodentia contains an implicit defense against Microsoft's allegations of copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
:
"FairUse4WM has been my own creation, and has never involved Microsoft source code. I link with Microsoft's static libraries provided with the compiler and various platform SDKSoftware development kitA software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
files."
Unable to identify or locate Viodentia, Microsoft dropped the lawsuit without prejudice in 2007.
External links
- FairUse4WM – a WM/DRM removal program, a thread at Doom9's Forum started by Viodentia and containing a number of comments from them
- Microsoft vs John Does 1-10 FairUse4WM Court Filings at CryptomeCryptomeCryptome is a website hosted in the United States since 1996 by independent scholars and architects John Young and Deborah Natsios that functions as a repository for information about freedom of speech, cryptography, spying, and surveillance...