CRA Government Affairs

Heather Green has a great piece in this week’s issue of Business Week on the chilling effect of copyright legislation on research. Here’s a snippet:

Scientists like to probe the unknown and pioneer useful technologies. But in the spring of 2001, Edward W. Felten discovered that such efforts aren’t always welcome. A computer scientist at Princeton University, Felten took part in a contest sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America to test technology for guarding music against piracy. He and his students quickly found flaws in the new antipiracy software and prepared to publish their results. But when the RIAA learned of the plan, it threatened to sue under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Congress passed it back in 1998 to block hackers from breaking copy protection. And they wisely included a provision designed to let researchers such as Felten carry out their important work. Still, the RIAA deemed Felten’s line of study too sensitive.
Ultimately, faced with Felten’s countersuit, the RIAA backed off. But by that time news of the confrontation had rocked the tech community. The lesson many scientists drew was that copyright protection takes priority over research. “The legal tools that are being used to rein in bad behavior are so blunt that they block a lot of perfectly benign behavior,” Felten says. “That worries me.”
It’s a concern that reverberates broadly in tech circles at a time when Congress is considering tough new antipiracy legislation. Most people agree that the music and film industries have the right to defend themselves against illegal copying. But society needs to consider the potential impact on innovation. Many high-tech business leaders fear that new laws could hobble researchers who are trying to come up with inventions such as next-generation TV systems or even the electronic components for those inventions.

It’s a good read. Check out the whole thing. Felten has some additional commentary here, too.

Thanks to Rodney Peterson of Educause for pointing this out:

U.S. cybersecurity chief abruptly resigns, cites frustration
By TED BRIDIS, AP Technology Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) The government’s cybersecurity chief has abruptly resigned after one year with the Department of Homeland Security, confiding to industry colleagues his frustration over what he considers a lack of attention paid to computer security issues within the agency.
Amit Yoran, a former software executive from Symantec Corp., informed the White House about his plans to quit as director of the National Cyber Security Division and made his resignation effective at the end of Thursday, effectively giving a single’s day notice of his intentions to leave.
Yoran said Friday he ”felt the timing was right to pursue other opportunities.” It was unclear immediately who might succeed him even temporarily. Yoran’s deputy is Donald ”Andy” Purdy, a former senior adviser to the White House on cybersecurity issues.
Yoran has privately described frustrations in recent months to colleagues in the technology industry, according to lobbyists who recounted these conversations on condition they not be identified because the talks were personal.

We’ve been harping on DHS and the Administration for not taking cyber security — especially cyber security R&D — seriously enough, but this still comes as a surprise.
More details as we figure them out.
Update: Rodney Petersen has more at the Educause blog on the suddenness of Yoran’s departure and its implications for Higher Ed.