Jon Lech Johansen

The release of the DeCSS software triggered a protracted legal battle that defined the early career of Jon Lech Johansen. By creating a tool capable of decoding the Content Scramble System used for DVD licensing, he became a focal point for international debates regarding digital rights management, proprietary software restrictions, and the scope of personal use under Norwegian law.

Early Development and Education

Born in 1983 in Harstad Municipality, Norway, Johansen spent his youth in Lardal. He began programming at twelve, utilizing resources like the book Programming the 8086/8088, web archives, and IRC channels focused on assembly language. He later enrolled at Thor Heyerdahl Upper Secondary School in Larvik but exited during his first year to dedicate his efforts to the DeCSS case.

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The DeCSS Litigation

In 2002, the Norwegian National Authority for the Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, known as Økokrim, charged Johansen with computer hacking following complaints from the DVD Copy Control Association and the Motion Picture Association. Johansen maintained he only developed the graphical interface for the software, noting the decryption core originated in Germany. Supported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, he was acquitted in the Oslo District Court on January 7, 2003. A subsequent appeal led to a second acquittal on December 22, 2003, which Økokrim chose not to contest further at the Supreme Court level.

Digital Rights Management Circumvention

Throughout the early 2000s, Johansen focused on bypassing proprietary encryption protocols. In 2001, he released OpenJaz, which enabled the JazPiper MP3 player to function without original drivers. By 2003, he developed QTFairUse to extract raw audio from QuickTime AAC streams. His work on VideoLAN included reverse-engineering Apple's FairPlay system, a process reflected in VLC version 0.7.1. In 2005, he co-authored PyMusique and SharpMusique to facilitate music purchases from the iTunes Store without DRM. He also reverse-engineered components of Microsoft's Windows Media Player and Apple's iPhone WiFi activation process.

Professional Ventures and Moves

Johansen has maintained a trans-Atlantic career, working in San Diego for MP3tunes in 2005. He relocated to the United States between October 2005 and November 2006, returning to Norway before moving back to the U.S. in June 2007. During his time at DoubleTwist Ventures, he worked on licensing FairPlay technology. In 2008, he launched a platform under the name doubleTwist, intended to allow consumers to bypass DRM and convert audio formats.