In a surprising retreat, the consortium of entertainment and technology companies known as DVD CCA is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit against Andrew Bunner, a republisher of a computer program created to allow movie lovers to play their DVDs on computers running the Linux operating system. DVD CCA effectively gave up a multi-year effort to have the republication of the program, called DeCSS, declared a violation of trade secret laws. "DeCSS has been available on hundreds if not thousands of websites for 4 years now," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "We're pleased that the DVD CCA has finally stopped attempting to deny the obvious: DeCSS is not a secret." The California Supreme Court last year ruled that one could apply preliminary restraint on publication of a computer program only in very narrow circumstances. DVD CCA sued Bunner along with hundreds of people, including some T-shirt manufacturers.