IP: a USACM letter to the AAP on Dmitry Sklyarov

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 12:02:55 -0700
>From: Barbara Simons <simons@acm.org>
>To: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>
>Subject: a USACM letter to the AAP on Dmitry Sklyarov
>
>Dave,
>
>USACM, the public policy committee of ACM, just sent a the
>following letter to the AAP expressing concern over the AAP's
>support for the DMCA in general and the arrest of Russian
>cryptographer Dmitry Sklyarov in particular.
>(ACM is a member of AAP).
>
>Links to the letter, the AAP, and USACM statements on
>the DMCA and other intellectual property issues can be
>found under Recent Activities and News at
>http://www.acm.org/usacm/.
>
>-------------------------------------
>
>July 26, 2001
>
>The Honorable Patricia S. Schroeder
>President & CEO
>Association of American Publishers
>50 F Street, N.W., 4th Floor
>Washington, D.C.  20001
>
>Dear Ms. Schroeder:
>
>As you know, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a member of
>the Association of American Publishers (AAP).  As the Co-Chairs of the U.S.
>Public Policy Committee of ACM, we are concerned by the APP statement
>released on July 19, 2001, which hailed the U.S. Department of Justice's
>recent arrest of a Russian cryptographer for allegedly violating the
>anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act
>(DMCA).  We would like for the AAP to be aware that ACM has consistently
>opposed the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA.  In our view, the
>overly-broad provisions impede the progress of research in cryptography and
>other computer security areas by criminalizing multi-use technologies
>rather than narrowly penalizing infringing behavior.
>
>ACM has been shifting its publication operations from paper-only to
>electronic distribution and we understand the importance of reasonable
>copyright protections.  ACM is an educational and scientific computing
>society comprising computing professionals from all areas of industry,
>academia, and government.  As such, we strongly support the freedom of
>computer scientists to engage in research, and to exchange ideas and
>information fundamental to the progress of innovation.  The need for free
>communication and fair-use of information are vital to the processes of
>education and research.
>
>During consideration of the DMCA by the U.S. Congress and the subsequent
>rulemaking process, ACM recommended that the anti-circumvention provisions
>of the legislation be revised to restrict only circumvention directly
>involved in infringement.  We further elucidated other flaws of the Act,
>including:
>
>* failure to permit circumvention for "fair-use" purposes is inconsistent
>with the fundamentals of copyright law and deters individuals from
>conducting bona fide forms of science and technology research that is
>fundamental to innovation;
>
>* exempting encryption research from the anti-circumvention provisions is
>too limited as the majority of computer security research does not involve
>encryption;
>
>* permitting reverse engineering for the sole purpose of interoperability
>may criminalize development of software engineering tools and technology
>with other uses; and,
>
>* anti-circumvention exemptions that permit circumvention to obtain
>authorized access to a work are meaningless if access mechanisms and tools
>cannot be used to do so.
>
>Unfortunately, our concerns were not satisfactorily addressed as the DMCA
>was enacted or as the implementation rules were promulgated.  As a result,
>scientists are now finding themselves in a position where they must consult
>attorneys to determine if their previously legitimate research might be in
>violation of the DMCA.  In some instances, the threat of legal action under
>the DMCA has deterred scientists from publishing scholarly work or even
>publicly discussing their research.  Certain foreign scientists and
>international members of ACM have indicated they will not attend
>conferences in the U.S. while the law is in force.  We are clearly seeing
>evidence that the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA have proven to
>have a chilling effect on U.S. scientific and research enterprise.
>
>While we recognize that the AAP works to protect the interests of book and
>journal publishers by advocating strong copyright protection in digital
>environments, we urge you to recognize the distinction between
>circumvention for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to a work
>and circumvention for the purpose of making a non-infringing use of a
>work.  In addition, we would hope you would agree that absent some clear
>criminal intent, technologists should not be penalized for conducting
>research that is crucial to developing and testing copyright protection
>systems, security software, and better software engineering tools.
>
>In light of your recent release indicating support for the
>anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA, we respectfully inquire if the
>AAP shares the concerns that ACM and other professional societies and
>research leaders have expressed regarding the Act's chilling effect on
>research and scientific freedom?
>
>We look forward to your reply.  Please contact Jeff Grove, Director of the
>ACM Public Policy Office at (202) 659-9711, if you have any questions or
>wish to discuss our concerns.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Barbara Simons, Ph.D.
>Eugene H. Spafford, Ph.D.
>
>Co-Chairs
>U.S. ACM Public Policy Committee (USACM)
>Association for Computing Machinery



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