[A2k] Advisory: NYFU to Oppose Imposition of Rootkits in Hardware Under the DMCA

[Seth Johnson]

MEDIA ADVISORY                          Contact:   Seth Johnson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                            (212) 543-4266
                                             seth@nyfairuse.org

New Yorkers for Fair Use to Oppose Global Imposition of Rootkits
in Hardware Under the DMCA

What:   This Friday, March 31, 2006, Jay Sulzberger, working
        member of New Yorkers for Fair Use, will testify in
        opposition to the use of the Digital Millennium Copyright
        Act (DMCA) to protect rootkits, spyware, and other
        malicious methods for taking control away from owners of
        personal computers.  He will speak in support of computer
        owners' right to operate without such invasions of their
        private property as the Sony/BMG rootkit and worse
        measures that would abuse the DMCA and exploit cloaking
        and encryption functions provided by specialized hardware
        components such as the "Trusted Computing" Group's
        TCPA/TPM.

        Mr. Sulzberger will occupy a seat on the same panel with
        Professor Ed Felten and will support his call for
        computer owners to be enabled to defend their machines
        from malware by exempting from the DMCA activities
        undertaken to identify, analyze, and remove malware.

When:   Friday, March 31, 2006
        9:30 - 11:30 am

Where:  Library of Congress
        James Madison Building
        Mumford Room, LM-649
        101 Independence Avenue, SE
        Washington, DC

Links:  Copyright Office Anticircumvention Rulemaking Hearings:
        http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2006/

        On Treacherous Computing:
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_computing

        On the Sony BMG Rootkit:
        http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/Sony-BMG

        NYFU Testimony at the 2003 Anticircumvention Hearings:
        http://www.nyfairuse.org/audio/cro.dmca/track4.ogg
        (Audio Player: http://www.nyfairuse.org/oggplayer/)

Who:    New Yorkers for Fair Use is a non-profit advocacy
        organization that defends traditional copyright, the
        right of private ownership of computers and the rights of
        free speech and free association, in the context of an
        age of ubiquitous computing and connectivity. We defend
        the interests of all citizens who benefit from flexible
        and innovative use of digital technology, the
        communications infrastructure, and published information.

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