Newsgroups: comp.society.cu-digest Message-ID: Date: Sat, 05 Jul 1997 04:57:14 GMT From: Cu Digest (tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu) Subject: Cu Digest, #9.52, Wed 2 July 97 Reply-To: tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu Organization: the Computer underground Digest gateway Computer underground Digest Wed July 2, 1997 Volume 9 : Issue 52 ISSN 1004-042X [..] CONTENTS, #9.52 (Wed, July 2, 1997) File 1--Federal Court invalidates Georgia anonymity law File 2--Database Protection (fwd/Computer Law Observer) File 3--ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update, June 19, 1997 File 4--CyberSitter threatens critics for linking, infringement File 5--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997) [...] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 17:31:29 -0400 From: Declan McCullagh Subject: File 4--CyberSitter threatens critics for linking, infringement ((MODERATORS' NOTE: Brian Milburn, pusher of CyberSitter, continues to hound his critics, this time with the threat of a lawsuit. Milburn's tactics raise a number of issues, as Declan McCullagh indicates)) Source - fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu The following note from Milburn's lawyer, which is more rhetorical than reasoned, nevertheless raises two interesting points: * Do you have the right to link to someone without their permission? * Do you have the right to "open the hood" of software you buy to see if it's works as it says it does? (One would think that this is merely reverse engineering.) Milburn says "no" to both questions. In fact, he wants his critics, especially Bennett Haselton, to be prosecuted for distributing software that allows you to "open the hood" of CyberSitter. But you can never trust lawyer letters. So I called up a U.S. Attorney I know who has had some experience in criminal copyright cases. Here's what I was told: "What the law says for criminal copyright is that a person has to do certain things for commercial advantage or private gain. I don't think there's going to be a criminal violation for two reasons: 1. There will be a civil remedy if there is one at all. 2. He's nowhere near commiting a crime. [You'd need to prove a criminal mindset.] What he's doing is not criminal." So much for Milburn's "potential criminal claims." -Declan ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date--Wed, 2 Jul 1997 21:35:25 -0700 From--"James S. Tyre" To: NETLY-L@relay.pathfinder.com Subject--Corporate Intimidation [Was: Re: argh ignore that last msg] [...] Despite the May 2, 1997 date of what follows (three days before my letter to Brian Milburn), Bennett just received this today from an attorney purporting to represent Solid Oak. (Bennett hasn't been at Vanderbilt for some time, and their mail forwarding system apparently is not the best). Note what the attorney says about links. -Jim -------------------------------- The Law Offices of Darren K. Miller 100 North Lasalle Street 24th Floor Chicago, Illinois 60602 Telephone (312) 346 6363 Facsimile (312) 346 2209 May 2, 1997 VIA CERTIFIED MAIL Mr. Bennett Haselton Vanderbilt University Box 1161, Station B Nashville, TN 37235 Re: Solid Oak Software vs. Vanderbilt University, et al. Dear Mr. Haselton: We have been retained by Solid Oak Software ("SOS") with reference to your web page located at www.peacefire.org. As you know, you have been asked by SOS to discontinue publishing and distributing their material which is protected by valid copyrights. This includes, but is not limited to the CYBERsitter filter file codebreaker, and the links to various private addresses at SOS. Your continued disregard for the demands of SOS amount to activities which are civil and criminal in nature. Your attempt to shield yourself behind the First Amendment does not apply. I suggest you read the case of _Religious Technology Center vs. Netcom On-Line Communication Services, Inc._, 907 F.Supp 1361 (N.D.Cal. 1995). Your activities amount at the very least to direct infringement on many of the exclusive and protected rights of SOS. As you have no ability to raise a fair use defense, SOS may seek injunctive relief as well as damages if you do not immediately cease publishing and distributing the above material, and providing links to the private addresses within SOS. SOS will not begin to discuss releasing you from civil liability, or potential criminal claims for your actions unless you immediately comply with the above demands. Very truly yours, Darren K. Miller DKM:jlh cc: Lee Altschuler, Esq. Chief, U.S. Attorneys Office Northern District California Solid Oak Software *************** Date-- Wed, 2 Jul 1997 10:05:40 -0700 From--"James S. Tyre" Subject-- Re: our friends at solid oak To: NETLY-L@pathfinder.com Just to add a few more facts to put the "bug" in perspective, since I don't recall mention of this in netly at the time: In mid-April, Bennett wrote a program called the codebreaker which, for those who had CYBERSitter, decrypted the weakly encrypted filter file into plaintext, so that anyone who chose to run the codebreaker program could see, in all its glory, all the bad words and bad sites blocked by CYBERSitter. The codebreaker was made available for download on Peacefire's site on April 22. One of many URLs where one can find the decrypted plaintext is: http://www.c2.net/~sameer/cybersitter.txt On April 24, Brian Milburn, the President of Solid Oak, fired off a letter to Bennett, threating civil and/or criminal prosecution. In addition to what one might expect in such a nastygram, Milburn actually accused Bennett of trespass by linking to Solid Oak. Milburn's letter is at: http://www.peacefire.org/archives/SOS.letters/bm.2.bh.4.24.97.txt The "bug", which Mark Kanter of Solid Oak denies any knowledge of in the Wired piece, seems to have first appeared in the CYBERSitter install program on April 29. Shirley, this was just a coincidence. BTW, on May 5, Bennett's incredibly brilliant and wonderful pro bono attorney (ya ya, yada yada) fired off a very tame, reasoned and subdued response to Milburn. For anyone who wants to be bored to tears with legalspeak, its at: http://peacefire.org/archives/SOS.letters/james.tyre.2.bm.txt In a huge shocker, little has been heard from Solid Oak since. (Milburn was interviewed on about June 3 for a not yet published piece in George. He was still making the same threats then, but....) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 May 1997 22:51:01 CST From: CuD Moderators Subject: File 5--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 7 May, 1997) Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. 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