Taking On Microsoft And The DMCA Over Xbox Hacking
from the chilling-effects... dept
It appears that this is "chilling effects" week, as we're already onto our third story this week about how bad laws have caused researchers to hide away some perfectly reasonable research they've done about computer security. The latest is an interview with Andrew "Bunnie" Huang, who made a lot of news last year for cracking the security system used by Microsoft's Xbox. He was then approached to write a book called "hacking the Xbox", which lawyers have now shelved out of fear of a DMCA lawsuit. He then tried to publish the book himself - but the e-commerce company providing the shopping cart was afraid that they would get sued. In the interview Huang explains why the book is important, and how there's nothing illegal about it at all. He also points out that he's willing to be a test case to show how the DMCA clearly does have chilling effects on security research - thereby actively decreasing the security of computer systems.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
