.
Research has been disrupted and discouraged by this new law. Section 1201 specifically limits the extent to which research can be done on software. It outlaws research that exposes potentially poor quality software to be published. This means that if a company like HP designed a new software program that had "a few bugs" in it, it wouldn't have to be changed if discovered. Furthermore, HP could sue the person(s) responsible for finding the error. I only use this example because it happened just four months ago. HP designed a firewall program that presented a major security issue. A company called SNOsoft discovered this error and published it on their website. Upon hearing of its release, HP threatened SNOsoft with a DMCA lawsuit, and SNOsoft immediately withdrew the information from their site. These are not the actions of an ethical company, but rather those a conglomerate who hides behind rules and regulations in an effort to make a quick buck. .
White House Chief of Cyber Security Richard Clarke spoke at MIT last October expressing that "the DMCA had been used to chill legitimate computer security research" (PC World). Companies from around the world have severed ties with many U.S. corporations for fear of DMCA persecution. Since the actions taken against Sklyarov, USENIX, a company that organizes many U.S. computing conferences, recently moved their annual meeting offshore. Now, important discussion of America's impact on the computing world will not be discussed during this conference. .
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) publishes thirty percent of all computer science journals worldwide. During the course of fall 2001, the institute received many DMCA threats from companies such as HP and Microtech. After receiving these threats, IEEE's Intellectual Property Rights manager Bill Hagen was quoted saying that "the Digital Millennium Copyright Act has become a very sensitive subject among our authors.
