[dvd-discuss] EFF: Security Researchers Drop Scientific Censorship Case

[Wendy Seltzer <wendy(at)seltzer.com>]

>From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
>Subject: FC: EFF calls it quits for Felten DMCA case after loss in 
>district court
>Reply-To: declan@well.com
>X-URL: Politech is at http://www.politechbot.com/
>
>Politech Felten archive:
>http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=felten
>
>Photos:
>http://www.mccullagh.org/cgi-bin/photosearch.cgi?name=felten
>
>---
>
>From: Will Doherty <wild@eff.org>
>Subject: EFF: Security Researchers Drop Scientific Censorship Case
>Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 00:53:27 -0800
>
>Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release
>
>For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 6, 2002
>
>
>Contact:
>
>Cindy Cohn
>    Legal Director
>    Electronic Frontier Foundation
>    cindy@eff.org
>    +1 415 436-9333 x108 (office), +1 415 823-2148 (cell)
>
>Ed Felten
>    felten@cs.princeton.edu
>    +1 650 723-0366 (currently at Stanford University)
>
>
>Security Researchers Drop Scientific Censorship Case
>
>Government, Industry Claim DMCA Not a Threat to Science
>
>San Francisco - Citing assurances from the government, the
>recording industry, and a federal court that the threats
>against his research team were ill-conceived and will not
>be repeated, Professor Edward Felten and his research team
>decided not to appeal the November dismissal of their case
>by a New Jersey Federal Court.
>
>The government stated in documents filed with the court in
>November 2001 that "scientists attempting to study access
>control technologies" are not subject to the Digital
>Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The Recording Industry
>Association of America echoed this, stating "we felt Felten
>should publish his findings, because everyone benefits from
>research into the vulnerabilities of security mechanisms."
>
>"Based on these and other statements from the government
>and the recording industry, the judge dismissed our case,"
>noted Princeton Professor Ed Felten. "Although we would
>have preferred an enforceable court ruling, our research
>team decided to take the government and industry at their
>word that they will never again threaten publishers of
>scientific research that exposes vulnerabilities in
>security systems for copyrighted works."
>
>The research team led by Professor Felten included
>professors Bede Liu and Daniel Wallach and researchers
>Scott Craver, Min Wu, Ben Swartzlander, Adam Stubblefield,
>and Richard Drews Dean.
>
>Together with USENIX, an association of over 10,000
>technologists that publishes such scientific research,
>Princeton Professor Edward Felten and his research team
>had asked the court to declare that they have a First
>Amendment right to discuss and publish their work, even if
>it may discuss weaknesses in the technological systems used
>to control digital music. The DMCA, passed in 1998, outlaws
>providing technology and information that can be used to
>gain access to a copyrighted work.
>
>The recording industry threatened the researchers under the
>DMCA for their planned release of a research paper
>describing the defects in the proposed Secure Digital Music
>Initiative (SDMI) lock-down schemes for audio CDs. The
>original threats led the researchers to withdraw the paper
>from a planned conference. In response to the lawsuit, the
>recording industry promised not to sue the research team or
>USENIX for presenting the research at a USENIX security
>conference in August 2001.
>
>"The statements by the government and the recording
>industry indicate that they now recognize they can't use
>the DMCA to squelch science," added EFF Legal Director
>Cindy Cohn. "If they are as good as their word, science
>can continue unabated. Should they backslide, EFF will be
>there."
>
>Documents related to the case:
>http://www.eff.org/sc/felten/
>
>This media release:
>http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/Felten_v_RIAA/20020205_eff_felten_pr.html
>
>
>About EFF:
>
>The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
>liberties organization working to protect rights in the
>digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
>challenges industry and government to support free
>expression, privacy, and openness in the information
>society. EFF is a member-supported organization and
>maintains one of the most-linked-to websites in the world at
>http://www.eff.org/
>
>                             -end-
>
>
>
>
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