RSSScientists Take Recording Industry to Court
By Nate Mook and David Worthington | Published June 6, 2001, 8:07 AM
In a bold move, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a lawsuit in federal court to protect the First Amendment rights of Princeton University Professor Edward Felten and his team of scientists. Felten intended to publish academic findings detailing the successful circumvention of digital audio copyright technologies. A coalition of the RIAA, SDMI, and Verance, sought to prevent public disclosure of the research. The court will decide whether Felten's team may present details of the study at the USENIX Security Conference in August.
The EFF calls into question the constitutionality of a clause in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibiting the publication of methods to bypass security controls in digital media. In a letter to Professor Felten, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) threatened legal action if the results were made public. But the research community maintains that mathematics and code are not circumvention devices and thus do not violate any laws.
Felten and his team answered a challenge put forth last September by the SDMI to hack the initiative's audio watermark technology. The watermarks, including one developed by Verance, help to prevent unauthorized distribution of copyrighted works. Ironically, the hacking contest was intended to advance the technology by exposing any potential flaws.
"Studying digital access technologies and publishing the research for our colleagues are both fundamental to the progress of science and academic freedom," stated Professor Felten in today's press release. "The recording industry's interpretation of the DMCA would make scientific progress on this important topic illegal."
Attempts to protect copyrights have collided with the longstanding notion of open access to research. If victorious, the EFF hopes to further scientific freedom and use the ruling to overturn anti-distribution provisions of the DMCA.
I really hope they succeed. I can imagine you'd have to be fairly optimistic to think they could win in court vs the RIAA, SDMI and Verance, but I really hope they win. I have read the small amount of information that Professor Edward Felton was allowed to publish and it looked fascinating to say the least, so I for one wouldn't mind being able to read it all. And I think it would be a good win, especially after SDMI went on to report that no-one was successful in breaking their protection! Then again that is the same reason why the SDMI will not let them win....how bad would they look when everyone sees their protections are a joke.
Anyways, all support to the EFF!
Score: 0
|For anyone else interesting in a brief overview of the results of the SDMI challange, the paper can be found here:
http://www.dvd-copy.com/...g-Between-the-Lines.htm
(Note: there are several copies of it on the internet)
Score: 0
|The industry is going against universities and colleges. I hate to break it to everyone but the universities are more powerful than the recording industry. They have a right to publish it.
Score: 0
|Is this the whole paper or is there more???
Swatch
Score: 0
|I don't think anyone is going to disagree to that statement.
Score: 0
|I believe that is only part of the complete paper. Basically that is what they were able to publish without being in danger of being sued as a result of revealing any specific details. That is why the information in that paper is cut off short and not finished in many places.
Score: 0
|No disagreement here. I am personally glad it is edu with the power
of black and white print that is going to bat for rights here against
what is now being seen by most as a bunch of a** holes who believe that rights are like laws and can be changed. At least with the university involved it will be much harder for them to pass the bulls*** past the judge without him feeling that if he shows a blind eye he might be labeled as a moron." full disclosure is just that and it really is a shame it has led to this. It is not a shame about dmca for it is just an act that will now be changed however our rights should always be preserved. Janet reno couldnt stop full disclosure of technoligies and I dont think the media vultures will be able to either. In short if DMCA is unconstitutional it will fall to stari desisi I think would be an applicable term. could be wrong though hehe
just my layman opinion not having much code background.
Score: 0
|