Stardate 20010717.0746 (On Screen): RIAA's "We
love Professor Felten!" act is becoming tiresome. Professor Felten lead a team which last year cracked nearly all of the protection schemes proposed by the now-moribund SDMI, and wanted to publish a paper describing how it was done. Someone at RIAA then sent him a letter threatening him with civil suit and criminal prosecution. Using one of the most fabulous jiu-jitsu moves in recent memory, Professor Felten arrived at the convention where he had planned to deliver his paper and instead stood up and said "We had a good paper we wanted to deliver, but if we do so then RIAA is going to put us in jail and it's not worth the risk." At which point it all hit the fan.
RIAA backtracked immediately and has ever since been trying to claim that their letter wasn't a threat, it was a friendly warning. RIAA actually likes Professor Felten and didn't want him to get into trouble, and was simply offering unsolicited legal advice, just as a friendly gesture. Yeah, right. (Read it yourself and see what you think.) As public damage control that was pretty feeble, but as a reason to dismiss a lawsuit it's preposterous. The threat in the letter is blatant. Court pleadings are not sworn testimony and are not subject to perjury prosecutions, but they can be rejected by the judge, and this one should be. (discuss)
