Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 57
Junior Member
OP Offline
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 57
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A5483-2003Oct9?language=printer

Reuters
Thursday, October 9, 2003; 6:07 PM


By Ben Berkowitz

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Three days after a Princeton graduate student posted a paper on his Web site detailing how to defeat the copy-protection software on a new music CD by pressing a single computer key, the maker of the software said on Thursday it would sue him.

In a statement, SunnComm Technologies Inc. said it would sue Alex Halderman over the paper, which said SunnComm's MediaMax CD-3 software could be blocked by holding down the "Shift" key on a computer keyboard as a CD using the software was inserted into a disc drive.

"SunnComm believes that by making erroneous assumptions in putting together his critical review of the MediaMax CD-3 technology, Halderman came to false conclusions concerning the robustness and efficacy of SunnComm's MediaMax technology," it said.

SunnComm, which trades on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, said it has lost more than $10 million of its market value since Halderman published his report.

The software was used on a CD, Anthony Hamilton's "Comin' From Where I'm From," released last month. Halderman, who has done research in the past on other CD protection technologies, said the software could also be disabled by stopping a driver the software loads on the computer when the CD is played.

SunnComm alleged Halderman violated criminal provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in disclosing the existence of those driver files.

Halderman -- who received an undergraduate degree from Princeton earlier this year and is now pursuing a doctorate in computer science with an emphasis on computer security -- said he had not yet heard directly from SunnComm in regards to litigation but was unconcerned.

"I'm still not very worried about litigation under the DMCA, I don't think there's any case," he told Reuters. "I don't think telling people to press the 'Shift' key is a violation of the DMCA."

A spokesman for BMG, the unit of Bertelsmann AG that licensed SunnComm's software and released the Hamilton CD, declined to comment on the planned suit.

The music industry, claiming a sharp decline in CD sales is the result of digital piracy through online file-sharing services, has worked to develop methods to secure music on discs and restrict its copying.

Halderman's graduate advisor at Princeton is Ed Felten, a computer science professor who once sued the Recording Industry Association of America in a challenge to the constitutionality of the DMCA.

The RIAA had threatened action under the DMCA against Felten and colleagues after they said they would publish a paper disclosing flaws in an industry security initiative. That suit was eventually dismissed.


Back off, man! I'm a scientist... - Peter VenkMann
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 57
Junior Member
OP Offline
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 57
Here is the actual paper by John Halderman at Princeton.

You think you know something...

"MediaMax CD3 products passed ...echnology was pushed to the limit."

However, the Shift key was apparently not pushed at all.


Back off, man! I'm a scientist... - Peter VenkMann

Link Copied to Clipboard
Member Spotlight
Phatal
Phatal
Houston, TX
Posts: 298
Joined: April 2004
Forum Statistics
Forums41
Topics33,840
Posts68,858
Average Daily Posts1
Members2,176
Most Online3,253
Jan 13th, 2020
Latest Postings
Where and how do you torrent?
by danni75 - 03/01/24 05:58 AM
Animation,
by JohanKaariainen - 08/15/19 01:18 AM
Blackbeard.....
by Gremelin - 10/03/18 07:02 PM
my old account still exists!
by Crime - 08/10/18 02:47 PM
Okay WTF?
by HenryMiring - 09/27/17 01:45 AM
The History Thread...
by Gremelin - 08/11/17 12:11 PM
My friend NEEDS your HELP!
by Lena01 - 07/21/17 12:06 AM
I'm having fun with this guy.
by gabithompson730 - 07/20/17 01:50 AM
I want to upgrade my phone
by gabithompson730 - 07/20/17 01:49 AM
Doom 3
by Cyrez - 09/11/14 08:58 PM
Amazon Gift Card Generator/KeyGen?te
by Gecko666 - 08/22/14 09:21 AM
AIM scene 99-03
by lavos - 09/02/13 08:06 AM
Planetside 2
by Crime - 03/04/13 07:10 AM
Beta Testers Wanted
by Crime - 03/04/13 06:55 AM
Hello Everyone
by Gremelin - 02/12/12 06:01 PM
Tracfone ESN Generator
by Zanvin Green - 01/18/12 01:31 PM
Python 3 issue
by Testing - 12/17/11 09:28 PM
tracfone airtime
by Drache86 - 07/30/11 03:37 AM
Backdoors and the Infinite
by ZeroCoolStar - 07/10/11 03:52 AM
HackThisZIne #12 Releaseed!
by Pipat2 - 04/28/11 09:20 PM
gang wars? l33t-wars?
by Gremelin - 04/28/11 05:56 AM
Consolidate Forums
by diggin2deep - 04/21/11 10:02 AM
LAN Hacking Noob
by Gremelin - 03/12/11 12:42 AM
Top Posters
UGN Security 41,392
Gremelin 7,203
§intå× 3,255
SilentRage 1,273
Ice 1,146
pergesu 1,136
Infinite 1,041
jonconley 955
Girlie 908
unreal 860
Top Likes Received
Ghost 2
Cyrez 1
Girlie 1
unreal 1
Crime 1
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5