more copyright-law abuse

[cellio]

WASHINGTON--Hewlett Packard has found a new club to use to pound researchers who unearth flaws in the company's software: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Invoking both the controversial 1998 DMCA and computer crime laws, HP has threatened to sue a team of researchers who publicized a vulnerability in the company's Tru64 Unix operating system.

[...]

If HP files suit or persuades the federal government to prosecute, the company could set a precedent that stifles research into computer security flaws, a practice that frequently involves publishing code that demonstrates vulnerabilities. The DMCA restricts code that "is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing protection" of copyrighted works.

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-947325.html

Comments

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

Note their backing down at http://news.com.com/2100-1023-947740.html

[beegle.livejournal.com]

FWIW, here's the code that they were trying to suppress (http://www.livejournal.com/talkpost.bml?journal=biteyourheadoff&itemid=19558).