Software maker sorry for trying to silence security researcher

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/24/carrier_iq_about_face/

By Dan Goodin in San Francisco
The Register
24th November 2011

A Silicon Valley software maker has withdrawn legal threats against an 
Android developer who claimed the company's diagnostic application 
amounted to a rootkit that posed a privacy threat to millions of handset 
owners.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mountain View, California-based 
Carrier IQ apologized to Trevor Eckhart for threatening to sue him for 
publishing training manuals he said supported his rootkit 
characterization. The about face came a few days after the 
Connecticut-based Android developer received legal support from the 
Electronic Frontier Foundation, which asserted his postings were 
protected by the US Constitution's First Amendment.

"Our action was misguided and we are deeply sorry for any concern or 
trouble that our letter may have caused Mr. Eckhart," the statement 
read. "We sincerely appreciate and respect EFF's work on his behalf, and 
share their commitment to protecting free speech in a rapidly changing 
technological world."

Eckhart's posting claimed that Carrier IQ software was able to log 
detailed information on millions of phones powered by Google's Android, 
Research in Motion's Blackberry, and Nokia operating systems. A user's 
GPS coordinates, key taps, and websites visited were just some of the 
details phone makers and carriers used the software to track, he 
claimed.

[...]


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