Friday, April 27, 2001

Recording Industry Denies Threatening to Sue Encryption Researcher From Princeton U. By ANDREA L. FOSTER A Princeton University computer scientist told colleagues gathered at a conference Thursday that he had scrubbed his planned speech about unscrambling encrypted digital music because the recording industry had threatened to sue him and the university, among others. Two industry groups deny the accusation. The scientist, Edward W. Felten, was scheduled to address an international conference in Pittsburgh and to talk about how he and other researchers from Princeton and Rice Universities had succeeded in deciphering codes known as "watermarks" that were designed to protect digital music from unauthorized copying. The talk would have been published as part of the conference proceedings. Instead, Mr. Felten said that the Recording Industry Association of America, the Secure Digital Music Initiative Foundation, and the Verance Corporation had threatened to sue if he proceeded with his presentation. S.D.M.I. is a group of technology companies working to prevent distribution of copyrighted music, and Verance designed a watermark that bears its name. Mr. Felten said the threats were made against him, his research team, Princeton, Rice, and the organizers of the 4th International Information Hiding Workshop. On April 9, S.D.M.I. sent a letter to Mr. Felten warning him that discussing his findings would violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Matthew Oppenheim, secretary of the S.D.M.I. Foundation, said in a prepared statement that his group had never threatened to sue Mr. Felten and his research team. "We sent the letter because we felt an obligation to the watermark licensees who had voluntarily submitted their valuable inventions to S.D.M.I." Likewise, the recording-industry association said it had never mentioned the possibility of suing the researchers. Reached by the Chronicle Thursday afternoon, Mr. Felten called the denials "interesting," and said the S.D.M.I. letter and other industry statements had "sent a clear message." He added: "I need a little while to think about this and figure out what's happening." In the text of the replacement speech he prepared for delivery at the conference, Mr. Felten said: "Litigation is costly, time-consuming, and uncertain, regardless of the merits of the other side's case." He said he and his research team "remain committed to free speech and to the value of scientific debate" and "look forward to the day when we can present the results of our research." Lawyers for Princeton, Rice, and S.D.M.I struggled until Wednesday afternoon to reach a compromise about whether and how Mr. Felten could present his research. "We all felt we needed a little more time to sort through this stuff," said Steven Schultz, a Princeton spokesman, explaining why Princeton had advised Mr. Felten not to deliver his original presentation. "It's not over. We're still looking for a way for him to be able to present his results." Mr. Felten said he was confident that he would eventually be able to discuss his research. "Many people told me they had been looking forward to the presentation," he said. "On another level, they were disappointed that the threat of litigation had intruded on the academic peer-review process." Representatives of Verance did not respond to a message seeking their comment. Background article from The Chronicle: Pressured by Music Industry, a Researcher Is Expected to Scrub Encryption Speech (4/26/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

A study, financed by the College Board, bolsters the reliability of the SAT Northeastern U. proposal for post-tenure reviews goes too far, critics say Sit-in ends in dejection after Wesleyan U. refuses to keep popular instructor New degrees, majors, or programs announced by 15 colleges Recording industry denies threatening to sue encryption researcher from Princeton U. An online course teaches students how to plan for hazards and disasters