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SunnComm Says Pointing to Shift Key 'Possible Felony'
The Importance of writes "A couple of weeks ago BMG released an audio CD with a new type of DRM. Earlier this week, a computer science graduate student at Princeton wrote a report showing the DRM was ineffective - it could easily be defeated by use of the 'shift' key. The stock of the DRM company (SunnComm) has since fallen by 20%. Now, SunnComm plans to sue the student under the DMCA and claim that SunnComm's reputation has been falsely damaged. According to SunnComm's CEO, 'No matter what their credentials or rationale, it is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate piracy and theft of digital property.'"
When /. covered the story originally, one poster half seriously suggested (and got modded informative) using the shift key to defeat the protection. Hmmmmmm. See this comment. /bg
Tell them what I told them: the use of the DMCA against a student who exercised his right to free speech and his right to publish an academic paper has made me strongly decide not to invest in their company, and tell most people I know to avoid their stock like the plague.
On a side note, wasn't the DMCA supposed to specifically protect academic research? Of course this same question was asked when SDMI pulled this shit too, so I guess we all know the answer.
--Kylus
Idiot-proof something, and Life will build a better Idiot.
We tah ded.
Considering that this is a documented feature of Windows which is has already been published all over the Internet as a quick way of squelching the AutoPlay feature and an attempt at a lawsuit on these grounds would have a snowball in Hell commenting, "Wow! That was over with fast". Searching for this information is ridiculously easy...
Sample Google Search #1
Sample Google Search #2
...and for once, a lawsuit clearly filed for the purposes of harassment is highly likely to result in a successful counter-suit for damages, simply by the fact that this is a documented feature of Windows. Demonstrating that SunnComm's suit had absolutely no merit on the basis that the information in question was already common knowledge should be a walk in the park.
DMCA "Violation" #1
DMCA "Violation" #2
What makes this especially stupid is that they'll be suing someone who has very little (if any) money, although I imagine that may well change after the counter-suit. If the people at SunnComm weren't complete idiots, they'd go after someone who has money, like Jeffrey Richter, who writes books on using Windows as well as articles for the MSDN network and who already published this information in 1998.
Yet Another DMCA "Violation"
I know what you're thinking right now, but even really stupid companies don't try to sue Microsoft over things this trivial.