The Stanford Law School Cyberlaw Clinic and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an amicus brief yesterday in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, asking judges to uphold a lower court ruling and protect smart card and encryption researchers. DirecTV’s recent litigation campaign threatens legitimate research by seeking much larger damages than they should be entitled to under Federal law. If DirecTV’s position is adopted, individuals could face up to $100,000 in damages for unauthorized smart card use; the Clinic worries that legitimate smart card researchers may be deterred from doing their work out of fear of such large liability.
Stanford Center for Internet and Society
In the heart of the Silicon Valley, legal doctrine is emerging that will determine the course of civil rights and technological innovation for decades to come. The Center for Internet and Society (CIS), housed at Stanford Law School and a part of the Law, Science and Technology Program, is at the apex of this evolving area of law.
DirecTVDefense.org
The Cyberlaw Clinic is providing legal services to client the Electronic Frontier Foundation in building and maintaining a website to provide legal information to innocent purchasers of smart card technology who have received cease and desist letters from satellite TV company DirecTV. The company has sent hundreds of thousands of demand letters and filed nearly 9,000 federal lawsuits in response to the mere purchase of smart card readers, emulators, unloopers, reprogrammers, bootloaders, and blockers. The satellite TV company accuses the letter recipients of using these devices to illegally intercept its signals. But the smart card readers and their various derivatives are capable of so much more: they secure computer networks, enable user-based identification, and further scientific discovery. Clinic students will work with DirecTV towards an agreement on how the company can pursue its anti-piracy goals without chilling legitimate researchers and hobbyists.
DirecTVDefense Website Launched
by Jennifer Granick, posted on January 20, 2004 - 3:59pm
Visit DirecTVDefense.org for information about the legality of smart cards, DirecTV's tactics in fighting signal piracy, and our client the EFF's position on these tactics.
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