DVD-Jon wins new legal victory

A panel of judges Monday cast aside the appeal that prosecutors had filed to a lower court decision handed down in January. That means the lower court's decision will stand, at least until another eventual appeal takes the case to Norway's supreme court.

The lower court had ruled that Johansen, now 20, did nothing illegal when he helped crack DVD copy protection codes in 1999 and then publicized how he did it. The prosecution had sought a suspended jail term, confiscation of his computer equipment and a fine of NOK 20,000 (less than USD 3,000).

Prosecutors had put Johansen back on trial earlier this month for his role in creating a software solution that removes copy protection from DVD films. He was dubbed "DVD-Jon" after he helped crack the copy protection code as a teenager and then published it on the Internet.