April 13, 2006

EFF: "Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA"

EFF has released a new DMCA report :

Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA

I'm mentioned:

Censorware Research Obstructed

Seth Finkelstein conducts research on "censorware" software (i.e., programs that block websites that contain objectionable material), documenting flaws in such software. Finkelstein's research, for example, revealed that censorware vendor N2H2 blocked a variety of legitimate websites, evidence that assisted the ACLU in challenging a law requiring the use web filtering software by federally-funded public libraries.

N2H2 claimed that the DMCA should block researchers like Finkelstein from examining it. Finkelstein was ultimately forced to seek a DMCA exemption from the Librarian of Congress, who granted the exemption in both the 2000 and 2003 triennial rulemakings. The exemption, however, has not been a complete remedy, since it is limited to the act of circumvention, and does not permit researchers to create or distribute tools to facilitate research.

By Seth Finkelstein | posted in censorware , dmca | on April 13, 2006 12:03 PM (Infothought permalink)
Seth Finkelstein's Infothought blog (Wikipedia, Google, censorware, and an inside view of net-politics) - Syndicate site (subscribe, RSS)

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Comments

Not to be an ass, but when nobody notices you but the EFF, it's like they're pitying you.

Posted by: Cricket at April 13, 2006 06:20 PM

You said it, I didn't :-)

Poor , Poor Pitiful Me

Posted by: Seth Finkelstein at April 13, 2006 06:38 PM