Re: Teen Offers Way to Crack Blocking Software

On 4/24/97, Richard Hopkins <rhopkins[_at_]activision.com> wrote:
>
> Yesterday an article appeared in the PointCast version of Wired:
>
> " A Tennessee college student has posted a software program on the Web
> that can be used to decrypt a list of sites blocked by the prominent
> blocking software Cybersitter.

What I think we've been missing here in this discussion is that the student did not post the decrypted list - he/she posted a software program that supposedly can decrypt the list. So the question is: what rights are violated by the posting of the program, as opposed to the use of the program?

As you may recall, one of the points in the White Paper on copyright was to outlaw the development of technologies that would that would circumvent copy protection. I believe this program is just such a technology, but I also assume that there is currently no law preventing the creation of such technologies, though the use of them may violate other laws or rights.

kc

Karen Coyle                    kec[_at_]dla.ucop.edu
  University of California Library Automation
      http://www.dla.ucop.edu/~kec
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