Tuesday, April 24, 2001

Recording industry threatens researcher with lawsuit The litigation department of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has threatened legal action against a Princeton University computer scientist if he and his colleagues give a conference presentation this week explaining how to get around a system developed by the industry to protect copyrighted music. The researcher, Dr. Edward W. Felton, works in the field of steganography, which develops techniques such as digital watermarking. The head of RIAA's litigation department insists: "There is a line that can get crossed, and if you go further than academic pursuit needs to go, you've crossed the line and it's bad for our entire community, not just for artists and content holders, it's everyone who loves art, and it's also bad for the scientific community." [*The New York Times*, 24 Apr 2001; NewsScan Daily, 24 April 2001 http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/technology/24MUSI.html] ["NewsScan" via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 37] 0:00 # G!

35,000-pound hacking challenge cracked (From Dave Farber's IP) A team of computer hackers has gained 35,000 pounds for hacking into a computer system just twenty-four hours after the competition began. Argus Systems organised the competition -- to break into a Web server locked down using its security product called PitBull -- to promote its products and to coincide with the start of Infosec, the UK's premier computer security event. Undeniably, the stunt backfired and is an embarrassment for Argus Systems Group, as well for as security consultant firm Integralis and hardware vendor Fujitsu Siemens, which helped organise the stunt and have coordinated three similar competitions in the US and Germany without suffering setbacks. [http://uk.news.yahoo.com/010423/152/bmqfd.html From Dave Farber's IP. For Dave's archives, see http://www.interesting-people.org/ PGN] [Jay Anantharaman via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 36] 0:00 # G!