viodentia New version 1.3
by viodentia, '' Doom9's Forum'', 27 September 2006, 07:27 (sometimes written with an

uppercase Letter case is the distinction between the Letter (alphabet), letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain lang ...

v) is a pseudonym used by the creator of FairUse4WM, a program that removes Microsoft's copy protection technology from

Windows Media Video Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV consists of three distinct codecs: The original video compression technology ...

(".WMV") files. These files are used by popular music download sites such as

Rhapsody Rhapsody may refer to: * A work of epic poetry, or part of one, that is suitable for recitation at one time ** Rhapsode, a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry Computer software * Rhapsody (online music service), an online m ...

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...

, and

Napster Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...

.Microsoft sues Viodentia for copyright infringement
by Cyrus Farivar, ''

Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editori ...

'' 26 September 2006

Background

A number of prominent websites use

DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement militai ...

to ensure that media and other downloads are unable to be copied for

software piracy Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, su ...

or other improper purposes. This copy protection system also has the effect of preventing what would otherwise be claimed as

fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...

- 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 exercise 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 interviewThe Engadget Interview: Viodentia, creator of FairUse4WM
by Ryan Block, ''Engadget'' 25 September 2006 published by the

weblog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, Viodentia does not live in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Lawsuit

On 22 September 2006,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

filed a federal lawsuit against ''

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often ...

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 (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

"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 SDK files."

Unable to identify or locate Viodentia, Microsoft dropped the lawsuit

without prejudice Prejudice is a legal term with different meanings, which depend on whether it is used in criminal, civil, or common law. In legal context, "prejudice" differs from the more common use of the word and so the term has specific technical meanings. ...

in 2007.Microsoft drops lawsuit against FairUse4WM creator
by Joel Hruska, ''

Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...

'' 10 April 2007

References

{{Reflist

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
Multimedia software Digital rights management circumvention software Anonymity pseudonyms