SunnComm Says Pointing to Shift Key 'Possible Felony' 1217
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.'"
This is nuts (Score:3, Informative)
I recall a post on
Pierre
Re:he-he (Score:1, Informative)
Precedent!
20% stock drop = 4 cents (Score:5, Informative)
Legal defense fund? (Score:3, Informative)
Oh wait, make that CD. You can't buy two CDs for only $25.
The ought to read MS Support Doc Q126025 (Score:2, Informative)
Best thing to do is Send them an email (Score:1, Informative)
investor@sunncomm.com
I sent them an email stating simply that they are doing a disservice to thier clients and the artists they represent by making such an easily defeatable "encryption" system and that you'll check for and never buy a product using thier systems.
Having it rely on a default setting in the OS is just plain stupid.
Re:So I guess... (Score:5, Informative)
so basically, he's being sued even though he didn't do anything to their DRM software at all.
Just had a conversation with them... (Score:4, Informative)
Maybe they should sue Slashdot (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What total bullshit (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re:Cannot use stock market as evidence (Score:3, Informative)
Mod Parent Down (Score:2, Informative)
divergent paths in a yellow wood (Score:4, Informative)
But the way our legal system works, they can go on claiming both for a while until it looks like they are for sure going to lose/win one claim or the other. Then they can drop the claim that's not working for them. It's all lawyer games. (NOTE: IANAL and NBAYROS (Never Believe Anything You Read On Slashdot))
Re:Perfect test case... (Score:1, Informative)
I'm not sure how the shift key is a circumvention device here though. Holding the SHIFT key down to prevent a CD from autoloading is documented in Windows help, windows tech sites, tip books and microsoft's manuals and website themselves.
This doesn't "cirumvent" anything anymore than simply not putting the CD in your computer woudl "circumvent" anything.
Re:Just a guess... (Score:3, Informative)
Tell that to Dmitry and his employer!
Good news! Dmitry and his employer won [com.com]!
Say it with me now... (Score:5, Informative)
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 [google.com]
Sample Google Search #2 [google.com]
...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 [americatoday.com]
DMCA "Violation" #2 [synapseadaptive.com]
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" [microsoft.com]
I know what you're thinking right now, but even really stupid companies don't try to sue Microsoft over things this trivial.
Re:Countersue for tresspass (Score:3, Informative)
about face (Score:4, Informative)
amazing how the position has changed so rapidly (the above article was from 10ish EDT on the 8th)
Re:Countersue for tresspass (Score:2, Informative)
Re:SunnComm == ZomboCom ? (Score:2, Informative)
Princeton does not have any professional schools. There is no "Princeton Law" as there is, for example "Harvard Law."
However, Princeton, unlike many universities, actually has a rather strong tradition of backing up its faculty members against stupid-ass lawsuits. They've supported Ed Felten, and I can report that, as a graduate student, when I was harrassed and threatened with a lawsuit by net.kook Right Reverend Colin James III, they assured me that not only had I done nothing wrong, but that should he actually bring his threatened legal action, the University would stand behind me.
And Princeton has got *quite* deep pockets.
SunnComm doesn't realize yet that it probably picked the wrong target to threaten.
Adam
Re:Countersue for tresspass (Score:2, Informative)
Microsoft published DMCA circumvention how-to! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:divergent paths in a yellow wood (Score:3, Informative)
I have actually found some incredibly useful information from posts on Slashdot.
RT(f)A (Score:3, Informative)
They said, "Halderman has violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by disclosing unpublished MediaMax management files placed on a user's computer after user approval is granted."
They're still total, utter morons, and they deserve to see their stock tank, and then get delisted
Re:SunnComm == ZomboCom ? (Score:5, Informative)
It's not about the shift key, it's about deleting a few files from your own computer. SunnComm doesn't believe you are allowed to remove the Trojan Horse they put onto your computer. It's far from obvious if they are wrong or not, as the Trojan Horse is certainly an effective way to restrict copying on a machine on which it has been installed.
(This reminds me that I should write an IETF draft for a very simple DRM scheme for HTTP which relies on the DMCA and other laws for effectiveness.)
Re:divergent paths in a yellow wood (Score:3, Informative)
Quoth the poster:
Well, not so fast. I am not making this up [sunncomm.com], it's on their site:
SunnComm Technologies, Inc. is a Phoenix, AZ company whose stock is publicly traded in the Over-the-Counter (OTC) market under symbol STEH. Our 3-year old company is currently in the development stage of its life cycle and, to date, has earned only insignificant revenue from sales of its products.
It is the intention of management to remain a non-reporting company listed on the "The Pink Sheets" until such time as the company reports significant sales of its technology . . . However, this means that you, the investor or interest-holder, will not be afforded public access to regular company audits and therefore you must solely rely on the company's press releases, news stories, or other publicly available information.
Besides making Enron look like a good investment, they may very well not have the cash to initiate a court battle. In which case, not for the first time would cooler heads prevail. These guys don't have the resources to mount a SCO-esque "we'll sue you until you buy us out" campaign.
As for suing the student, RTFA and you'll see that they mentioned the student AND Princeton. Here again, Princeton has the jack to mount a legal battle, SunComm doesn't. And Princetion might very well defend the student.
Any way you slice it, this does not bode well for the fledgling fair-use-rights infringers. I think they're more pissed at this guy putting the kibosh on their pump-and-dump scheme.
here's an update. (Score:2, Informative)
SunnComm CEO changes his mind (Score:2, Informative)
SunnComm's CEO decided late last night to change his mind. "I don't want to be the guy that creates any kind of chilling effect on research," he said.
Re:Start shooting. (Score:3, Informative)
The hate you spew makes you no better than the man you condemn, despite the fact that he is demonstrably the worst President we've had since Nixon. The solution of the radical is always to kill what they fear, never realizing that eventually the guillotine will claim them as well.
PS: You still haven't explained how death threats are "civilized."