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IP: ACM Submits Declaration in Felten v. RIAA
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 11:16:48 -0400
August 13, 2001 (202) 659-9711 ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY (ACM) FILES DECLARATION IN LAWSUIT CHALLENGING THE DMCA ìACM Seeks to Help the Court Understand the DMCAís Chilling Effect on Analysis, Research, and Publicationî New York, August 13, 2001 The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) filed a declaration in federal court today regarding the legal challenge to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the Felten v. RIAA lawsuit. The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by a number of computing researchers. Led by Princeton University computer scientist Edward Felten, the plaintiffs are asking the court to rule portions of the DMCA unconstitutional, arguing that its broad prohibitions on disseminating information and technology restrict speech protected by the First Amendment. As a leading society of 75,000 computer scientists, educators, and other professionals, ACM has filed a declaration in support of Professor Felten and the other plaintiffs to help the court understand the practical effect of the issues at stake in this case. ìIt is imperative for the court to understand that the application of any law that may limit the freedom to publish research on computer technology will impose a cost on the academic community, the process of scientific discourse, and society in general,î stated Dr. John R. White, ACMís Executive Director. ìWe believe the threat of litigation under the DMCA will have a profound chilling effect on analysis, research, and publication.î Founded in 1947, ACMís mission is to advance the open interchange of information concerning computing and related disciplines. To further its mission, ACM is a leading publisher of scientific information and sponsors over 80 professional computing conferences each year. ACM is also concerned that, in addition to harming the progress of research, the risk of legal liability under the DMCA threatens the ACMís publication and sponsorship of professional computing conferences that might include scientific papers assessing the strengths and weaknesses of computer and data security measures. Noting that ACM has earned a respected reputation for choosing strong scientific papers for its conferences and publications without regard to political or commercial pressure, White concluded, ìACM could adopt a policy of steering clear of scientific papers that could subject us to liability under the DMCA, but that could only be done at a risk of sacrificing our mission and damaging our reputation as a scientific society.î To review a copy of ACMís declaration, see www.acm.org/felten. The USACM, ACM's Committee on U.S. Public Policy, has been concerned about the impact of the DMCA on research and speech for some time. Additional information about USACM may be found at www.acm.org/usacm/.
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