RE: The DMCA has a chilling effect on computer science research.

[Edward Barrow <edward@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thursday, April 10, 2003 7:26 PM, Jeff Buckley 
[SMTP:jehobu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] wrote:
> A Boston judge recently dismissed a challenge to the Digital Millennium 
Copyright Act.  A Harvard student wants to be able to study a pornography 
blocking software, but he might face retribution from the company that 
manufactures it if he does.  The DMCA has a chilling effect on computer 
science research.  See http://news.com.com/2100-1025-996245.html.
>
> Lofgren's BALANCE Act of 2003, HR 1066, 
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.01066:, may be a step 
toward protecting such research, but the act distinguishes computer 
programs from literary works.  It has wide support, 
http://www.house.gov/lofgren/news/2002/supportbalance2003.htm.
>
> Jeff Buckley
> MLIS Candidate
> UW Information School
>

This is, I submit, a failure of the intellectual property system. In patent 
law, there is an express bargain between the community and the inventor: a 
limited monopoly is granted in return for publication of the invention.

The use of copyright law to protect software, without source code 
disclosure, circumvents the publication requirement of patent law. I have 
long been of the opinion that  copyright in published software should be 
conditional on full disclosure of the source code; as well as facilitating 
the study of computer science, it would I believe have prevented many of 
the monopolistic abuses which have characterised the computer software 
market.

Edward Barrow
New Media Copyright Consultant
http://www.copyweb.co.uk/
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