[DMCA-Activists] Infoworld: DMCA Horror Show

[Seth Johnson]

(Forwarded from Pho list.  Russell Pavlicek addresses Red
Hat buttoned-lip security policy and the Copyright Office's
public comments period.  -- Seth)


-------- Original Message --------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 11:33:03 -0500
From: Marshall Eubanks <address@hidden>
To: Pho <address@hidden>

The insanity caused by the DMCA is spreading :

http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/02/10/28/021028opsource.xml

(btw, Infoworld has something negative on the DMCA and
related issues pretty much every week.)

-- 
DMCA horror show
Russell Pavlicek

WELL, IT'S THAT time of year again when horrifying things
terrorize people in their dreams. Ghoulish tales fill the
air. And grown  people peek over their shoulders in fear.

No, I'm not talking about Halloween. It's time again to
consider the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

For those who don't recall the bill, the DMCA was supposed
to be the magic legal bullet that would protect copyright
holders from  efforts to crack security measures protecting
intellectual property. Although that may sound reasonable
and business-friendly, it  has proved to be otherwise --
especially when it comes to open-source software.

It has come to the forefront once again for two reasons.
First, Red Hat recently issued a security patch for the
Linux kernel.  Unfortunately, due to the DMCA's provisions,
company officials believe they cannot explain to U.S.
citizens what the patch does. A  European Web site
(www.thefreeworld.net/non-US) will divulge the information
to non-U.S. citizens but will deny access to Americans. 
Explaining the problem might violate the DMCA and leave Red
Hat exposed to possible prosecution.

You see, if Red Hat describes the security flaw, it will
indirectly reveal how unscrupulous individuals can exploit
the security  deficiency in a number of Linux distributions.
And that, Red Hat officials say, appears to be a violation
of the DMCA. After all, if  Dmitry Sklyarov can be hauled
off to jail for publicly demonstrating that a commercial
security scheme did not work as advertised,  anything is
possible.

Now I fully understand that businesses need to be properly
compensated for creating innovative solutions, but this
situation is too  ludicrous for words. When a law such as
the DMCA cripples free speech to the point where a company
such as Red Hat is too scared to  release details of a patch
it is distributing, something is dreadfully wrong. This law
crosses the line from protecting business to  enforcing
ignorance.

As implemented, the DMCA makes as much sense as outlawing
cars to protect the rights of the buggy-whip industry. It's
one thing to  encourage business; it's another to do so by
denying that the rest of the world is moving on. In this
case, the DMCA flies into the  face of open-source
development because Red Hat does not "own" the Linux kernel
and therefore cannot discuss things that compromise  its
security. The law might work for some closed-source software
companies, but it is clearly out of sync with the
open-source  movement gaining momentum worldwide.

The second issue that brings the DMCA into the light of
scrutiny is the fact that the U.S. Copyright Office is
asking for public  comment regarding the law. The feedback
period begins Nov. 19 and lasts until Dec. 18. If you have
strong feelings about the DMCA,  you'll have an opportunity
to express them. Links to the appropriate government Web
site are in the Open Source forum at  www.infoworld.com/os.



Russell Pavlicek is a contributing editor at InfoWorld.
Contact him at address@hidden Log
on to his forum  at http://www.infoworld.com/os.


                                  Regards
                                  Marshall Eubanks

T.M. Eubanks
Multicast Technologies, Inc
10301 Democracy Lane, Suite 410
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Phone : 703-293-9624       Fax     : 703-293-9609
e-mail : address@hidden
http://www.multicasttech.com

Test your network for multicast :
http://www.multicasttech.com/mt/
  Status of Multicast on the Web  :
  http://www.multicasttech.com/status/index.html

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