[no subject]

[benmorgan@xxxxxxxxx (Ben Morgan)]

from Slashdot

> Statement read by Edward W. Felten
> Fourth International Information Hiding Workshop
> Pittsburgh, PA
> April 26, 2001
> 
> "On behalf of the authors of the paper "Reading Between the Lines: Lessons
> from the SDMI Challenge," I am disappointed to tell you that we will not
> be presenting our paper today. 
> 
> Our paper was submitted via the normal academic peer-review process. The
> reviewers, who were chosen for their scientific reputations and
> credentials, enthusiastically recommended the paper for publication, due
> to their judgment of the paper's scientific merit. 
> 
> Nevertheless, the Recording Industry Association of America, the SDMI
> Foundation, and the Verance Corporation threatened to bring a lawsuit if
> we proceeded with our presentation or the publication of our
> paper. Threats were made against the authors, against the conference
> organizers, and against their respective employers. 
> 
> Litigation is costly, time-consuming, and uncertain, regardless of the
> merits of the other side's case. Ultimately we, the authors, reached a
> collective decision not to expose ourselves, our employers, and the
> conference organizers to litigation at this time. 
> 
> We remain committed to free speech and to the value of scientific debate
> to our country and the world. We believe that people benefit from learning
> the truth about the products they are asked to buy. We will continue to
> fight for these values, and for the right to publish our paper. 
> 
> We look forward to the day when we can present the results of our research
> to you, our colleagues, through the normal scientific publication process,
> so that you can judge our work for yourselves." 



-- 
http://futureofmusic.org