Sonopress Joins DVD CCA, Kaleidescape Among 6 to Withdraw, DOJ Notice Says

German disc replicator Sonopress recently joined the DVD Copy Control Association and Kaleidescape was one of six companies to withdraw, DVD CCA told DOJ and the FTC in simultaneous “written notifications” Feb. 24. That’s according to a notice published in Monday’s Federal Register by Patricia Brink, director-civil enforcement, in DOJ’s Antitrust Division. The change-of-membership notifications were required to extend DVD CCA members antitrust protections under the 1993 National Cooperative Research and Production Act, Brink’s notice said. Other companies withdrawing from DVD CCA, which licenses the DVD format’s Content Scramble System (CSS), were Azend Group, Datapulse Technology, DVS Korea, ESS Technology and Quanta Storage, the notice said. Kaleidescape nearly three years ago reached a settlement in the decade-long breach of license complaint brought by DVD CCA over Kaleidescape’s movie servers that import CSS-protected DVDs (see 1406040035). Kaleidescape representatives didn’t comment Monday on the DOJ notice.