"We have a responsibility to keep our system in good and lawful order--we don't take anybody's word for it, and we reach our own conclusions," Ryan wrote.

Gabriel said that he removed the program to avoid any further University action.

Normally, movies on DVD are encrypted through a "content scrambling system," which prevents the material from being played on unlicensed playback devices. DeCSS, a program created last fall, bypasses this encryption system, allowing a user to copy and view movies at will.

The program is at the heart of three ongoing lawsuits filed by the MPAA and movie industry lobbying groups on the basis of the DMCA.

DeCSS gained worldwide attention on Jan. 24, when 16-year-old Jon Johansen of Norway, one of the program's three creators, was detained for questioning by Norwegian officials and charged with violating copyright law.

Since then, the MPAA and other industry groups have filed suits against groups of individuals in California and New York, with preliminary injunctions issued in both states prohibiting the posting of DeCSS.

It was then that Gabriel, an acquaintance of one of the parties involved in the New York suit, decided to post the files.