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DMCA Cases Threaten Encryption Research
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 17 September 2001
Washington, DC -- The Internet Society adds its voice to the those of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Computing Research Association and The Association for Computing Machinery in supporting the right of computer researchers to publish their findings on encryption systems without risk of legal action against them.
Two recent legal proceedings in the United States have raised serious threats to progress in the development of encryption and security technology. Although United States law is directly involved, the laws of many other countries have comparable provisions.
In 1998, the United States federal copyright statute was amended by the addition of the so-called Digital Millenium Copyright Act (³DMCA²). The DMCA makes it illegal to manufacture, sell or market a device that is primarily designed to circumvent technological measures used to protect copyrighted material, or has only limited commercial purpose other than circumventing such technological measures. The statute includes both civil and criminal penalties for violations.
In two recent highly publicized cases in the United States, the DMCA has been invoked in an attempt to prevent a university professor from publishing his research on a digital music protection scheme, and, more notably, to imprison a Russian scientist visiting the United States to deliver a paper about his research on circumvention of another protection scheme. There is widespread debate over the precise meaning and applicability of the DMCA, but the Internet Society believes that the efforts to use it to suppress research are misguided in the extreme.
In the first case, the Computing Research Association, joining with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society (at Harvard University), has filed a declaration of support for Princeton University Professor Edward Felten. The declaration has been filed in connection with a law suit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (³EFF²), on behalf of Prof. Felten, asking for a declaratory judgment that the application of the DMCA to bar his planned disclosure of research findings on digital music protection would violate the rights of freedom of speech guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Prof. Felten¹s research was conducted at the initiative of the promoters of the protection scheme. The Association for Computing Machinery has also filed its own declaration of support of the EFF suit.
The recent arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov, a Russian Ph.D. student, provides an even more compelling argument against any interpretation of the DMCA that results in suppression of research. Sklyarov came to the United States to deliver a presentation at a computer security conference. He discussed his research on the insecurity of Adobe's eBook encryption technology and his development of a program that would allow users to read encrypted eBooks. Following the presentation, he was arrested and charged with trafficking in a product designed to circumvent copyright protection, in criminal violation of the DMCA, based on his employer's sale of the software program based on his research.
Numerous researchers have protested the potential for abuse in the enforcement of the DMCA, and the two recent cases provide substantial support for their arguments. The Computing Research Association asked Professor Edward Lazowska, the Bill and Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, and a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, to make a declaration in the Felten case.
Prof. Lazowska stated: ³members [of the Computing Research Association] are deeply concerned that the DMCA will have a chilling effect on computing research. Much research in computer systems is based upon analysis - the careful examination of existing systems and approaches in order to understand what works well and what works poorly. Analysis is no less important when the system being studied is used to protect copyrighted works. There is a long tradition of open research - including open research in computer security and information hiding - that has driven our field forward. This tradition is in jeopardy because of the DMCA."
It is interesting to note that Attorney General of the United States, John Ashcroft, when he was a United States Senator participating in the debate on the adoption of the DMCA, said: ³Product manufacturers should remain free to design and produce the best available products, without the threat of incurring liability for their design decisions. Technology and engineers - not lawyers - should dictate product design²
The Internet Society agrees wholeheartedly with the arguments of Professor Lazowska and Attorney General Ashcroft. We support the efforts of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Computing Research Association and The Association for Computing Machinery in support of an interpretation of the DMCA that will not interfere with much needed research that will, in the long run, lead to better software and better products.
About ISOC:
The Internet Society
ISOC is a non-profit, non-governmental, open membership
organization whose worldwide individual and organization members make
up a veritable "who's who" of the Internet industry. It provides
leadership in technical and operational standards, policy issues, and
education. ISOC hosts two annual Internet conferences <http://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/>,
trains people from all over the world in networking technologies, conducts
workshops for educators, and publishes an award-winning magazine, OnTheInternet.
ISOC provides an international forum to address the most important economic, political, social, ethical and legal initiatives influencing the evolution of the Internet. This includes facilitating discussions on key policy decisions such as taxation, copyright protection, privacy and confidentiality, and initiatives towards self-governance of the Internet. ISOC created the Internet Societal Task Force as an on-going forum for discussion, debate, and development of position papers, white papers, and statements on Internet related societal issues.
ISOC is the organizational home of the International Engineering Task Force, the Internet Architecture Board, the Internet Engineering Steering Group, and the Internet Research Task Force - the standards setting and research arms of the Internet community. These organizations operate in an environment of bottom-up consensus building made possible through the participation of thousands of people from throughout the world.
Contact:
David Maher Vice President, Public Policy
Internet Society
Tel: +1 312 876 8055
Fax: +1 312 876 7934
Email: dwmaher@attglobal.net
