Student Faces Suit for Shift Key Circumvention

(Forwarded from World Wide Web Artists Consortium list)

-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Trenka <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2003 17:43:52 -0400
Subject: [wwwac] Student faces suit over key to CD locks

 From News.Com
http://rss.com.com/2100-1025_3-5089168.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news

Student faces suit over key to CD locks

SunnComm Technologies, a developer of CD antipiracy technology, said 
Thursday that it will likely sue a Princeton student who early this 
week showed how to evade the company's copy protection by pushing a 
computer's Shift key.

Princeton Ph.D. student John "Alex" Halderman published a paper on his 
Web site on Monday that gave detailed instructions on how to disarm the
SunnComm technology, which aims to block unauthorized CD copying and 
MP3 ripping. The technology is included on an album by Anthony Hamilton
that was recently distributed by BMG Music.

On Thursday, SunnComm CEO Peter Jacobs said the company plans legal 
action and is considering both criminal and civil suits. He said it may
charge the student with maligning the company's reputation and, 
possibly, with violating copyright law that bans the distribution of 
tools for breaking through digital piracy safeguards.

"We feel we were the victim of an unannounced agenda and that the 
company has been wronged," Jacobs said. "I think the agenda is: 
'Digital property should belong to everyone on the Internet.' I'm not 
sure that works in the marketplace."


<snip />

When in doubt.. or producing cruddy software.. SUE!

Ron

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