The original production and distribution of DeCSS isn't legal, but its subsequent use in the situation you describe is. This is the result of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act . The DMCA produces all sorts of counterintuitive results. The question is, are they smart enough to see that it's better to sell millions of copies for 50 cents rather than turn the buying public into their enemies. Your article about HDTV was very informative.
Opinions seem to vary on whether it's any better.
You seem to be a proponent of watching HDTV via your PC through add-in boards. Your column is informative. Digital cable is infinitely better. In my opinion, analog cable looks awful. It's generally full of noise and ghosts.