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Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
Yesterday's parody has become today's news: SunnComm Technologies Inc., the developer of the DRM technology that can be bypassed with the use of the shift key, is suing the Princeton student who authored the paper, Alex Halderman, for significantly damaging the company's reputation and causing the stock to drop $10 million (though there may be more to that than meets the eye). Argues the company, "No matter what their credentials or rationale, it is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate piracy and theft of digital property." So let this be a warning to you: if you knowingly press the shift key, you too are a pirate and should be tossed into jail. Update: in an interview published today in the Daily Princetonian, SunnComm indicated that it may have had a change of heart. "I don't want to be the guy that creates any kind of chilling effect on research," Jacobs said.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 7:33 p.m.

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