SunnComm to Sue Princeton Student Over CD Copy-Protection Report

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 9, 2003 - 4:49am.

Phoenix, Ariz. -- SunnComm, a developer of CD copy-protection technology recently used by major label BMG on a commercial CD release in the U.S., announced on Thursday that it intends to sue a Princeton grad student who published a report revealing the technology could be defeated simply be depressing the "Shift" key on a PC. "The conclusions contained in the Princeton University grad student's report issued last Monday were derived from incorrect assumptions by its author… [and have] caused the market value of SunnComm to drop by more than $10 million." Arizona-based SunnComm believes that Princeton grad student Alex Halderman violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in his report by disclosing unpublished MediaMax management files, and admitting that he disabled the technology in order to make an unprotected copy of the disc's contents. The DMCA makes it a felony to circumvent the copyright protections on a digital device. "This cat-and-mouse game that hackers and others like to play with owners of digital property is over," said SunnComm CEO Peter Jacobs. "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."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031009/95573_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/031007/media_bmg_protection_1.html
http://www.sunncomm.com