________________________________________________________________________________ ================================================================================ Subject: FC: CyberPatrol wins restraining order against "cphack" decrypt app From: Declan McCullagh Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 01:00:20 -0500 ================================================================================ What's interesting is that Mattel's PR person (Mattel's subsidary sells CyberPatrol) is trying to spin this as an order that applies to mirror sites. Even the MPAA plaintiffs in the DeCSS suit haven't tried that. Read on for the hype. Linkname: Mattel Sues Over Blocking Hack URL: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34998,00.html Linkname: CyperPatrol Hackers Lose Round URL: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,35038,00.html -Declan >From: "Sydney Rubin" >To: >Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 19:32:27 -0500 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 > >Here's the release we issued at 2:30 today that quotes from the injunction >and shows that the restraining order applies to the mirrored sites, as >well as the original four defendants -- Skala, Jansson, Scandanvia Online >and Islandnet. Use of the words "agents" and "those persons in active >concert or participation with them" in the ruling applies to the mirrored >sites. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Sydney Rubin Ignition Strategic Communications 202/244-1200 FEDERAL JUDGE GRANTS COMPANY IMMEDIATE INJUNCTION AGAINST HACKERS WHO VIOLATED U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW Judge Agrees Hackers' Actions Likely Violate Intellectual Property Rights of Microsystems Software and Undermine Parents' Ability to Protect Children FRAMINGHAM, MASS. (March 17, 2000) A Federal Judge in Boston today issued a temporary restraining order against two hackers prohibiting them from distributing code that undermines the ability of parents using Cyber Patrol to protect children from inappropriate content online. U.S. District Judge Edward F. Harrington ordered that the "defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys and those persons in active concert or participation with them, shall discontinue publishing defendant's Cyber Patrol bypass code and binaries (known as "CP4break.zip" or "cphack.exe" or any derivative thereof)." The ruling prohibits further distribution over the Internet into the United States of the bypass code and binaries published by the hackers and "mirrored," or copied, on other sites throughout the World Wide Web. "The ruling means that the defendants and those redistributing the defendants' illegal work product will be in violation of a U.S. Federal Court order if they distribute the material into the United States," said Irwin B. Schwartz, a partner in the Boston law firm of Schwartz and Nystrom, LLC, which represents Microsystems. The ruling also granted the company expedited discovery into who had downloaded the illegal material derived from the copyright violations. Microsystems Software, maker of the Internet filtering software Cyber Patrol, filed for the temporary restraining order on Wednesday Massachusetts Federal District Court. The complaint was against two hackers in Canada and Sweden, Matthew Skala and Eddy L.O Jansson, as well as the two Internet Service Providers hosting the hackers' Web sites, Islandnet.Com in Canada and Scandinavia Online AB in Sweden. The complaint alleged the hackers violated copyright law by reverse engineering Cyber Patrol software and then using the illegally-obtained source code to develop an executable program that allows users to bypass the software. The hackers then posted pieces of the Cyber Patrol source code and their executable program on the Internet and publicized their work via e-mailed press releases. The pair also published portions of the proprietary Cyber Patrol list of filtered sites, but this was not part of the complaint filed by the company. Judge Harrington gave the company permission to serve notice of the immediate injunction via email to the defendants and "their agents." The company was serving the electronic notices immediately. Violating a Federal Court Order is punishable by a fine or prison. The willful and knowing violation of U.S. Copyright Law can carry sanctions of up to $100,000 per violation. Defendants receiving the notices are ordered by the court to "preserve inviolate the software and information that makes up all such Web sites, source or object code and documents relating to Cyber Patrol, as well as all records which reflect the identity or number of persons who downloaded CP4break.zip or cphack.exe from the Web sites." Cyber Patrol is the world's most widely-used Internet filtering software. Microsystems' technology is used by America Online for its parental controls and hundreds of thousands of families have purchased Cyber Patrol software to help protect children from Web sites such as those that advocate violence or hate, or post sexually explicit content meant for adults. # # # # -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================ Subject: FC: Mattel sends me a subpoena, wants politech reader list From: Declan McCullagh Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 03:18:50 -0500 ================================================================================ Mattel's attorneys have sent me a subpoena. Mattel, which sells CyberPatrol, has a problem: It wants to know exactly who's been downloading a program that reveals CyberPatrol's list of off-limits web sites. Now, I never mirrored this "cphack" utility. But I did post the addresses of mirror sites to the politech list and the politechbot.com web site -- and that information source seems to be what attorney Irwin Schwartz is worried about. Schwartz copied system administrators at MIT, which is where the list lives. Naturally I have no intention of revealing the identities of politech readers to Mattel or anyone else. Nor is a subpoena sent via email usually viewed as proper service, at least where I come from. I've set up a web site to keep track of all these documents and developments: http://www.politechbot.com/cyberpatrol/ -Declan *********** >From: "Irwin B. Schwartz" >To: "'webmaster@bip.net'" , > "'redaktionen@bip.net'" > , > "'declan@well.com'" , > "'web-request@mit.edu'" , > "'mis-team@mit.edu'" >Cc: "'mailbox@schwartz-nystrom.com'" >Subject: Service of Temporary Restraining Order >Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 17:34:03 -0500 > >To Whom It May Concern > >Re: Microsystems Software Inc. et al. v. Scandinavia Online AB et >al., Case No. 00-cv10488-EFH (D. Mass.) > >Greetings: > > This firm represents Microsystems Software, Inc. and Mattel, Inc. > in the above-referenced action filed in the United States District Court > for the District of Massachusetts. > > On March 17, 2000, United States District Judge Edward Harrington > entered a temporary restraining order in the above-referenced matter > prohibiting any further publication of "CP4break.zip" or "cphack.exe" or > any derivative thereof, which likely violate United States copyright laws > (the "Order"). A copy of that Order is attached here as Order.uni and in > its proposed form as order.doc. You may open the *.uni document with a > *.tif file reader. > > > > It has come to our attention that your Web hosting service or Web > site is publishing one or both of these prohibited files. This letter > and the enclosed Word documents and *uni files will place you on notice > of Judge Harrington's Order. > > The Order also permits Microsystems to take discovery on an > expedited basis. Accordingly, I have included a subpoena to you that > requires you to disclose the log of persons who downloaded either > "CP4break.zip" and/or "cphack.exe". A copy of the subpoena is attached > here as *.uni and in Word format as subpoena.doc. > > > > > In addition, attached to this E-mail transmittal are the > following documents in Microsoft Word and *.uni format: > >Verified Complaint > >Plaintiffs' Ex Parte Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Expedited >Discovery; > >Memorandum in Support of Ex Parte Motion for Temporary Restraining Order >and Expedited Discovery. > > We recommend that you retain counsel in Massachusetts and we ask > that you or your counsel contact us as soon as possible to arrange more > formal service of these documents on you. > > Sincerely, > > > > Irwin B. Schwartz > >Enclosures -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ no copyright 2000 rolux.org - no commercial use without permission. is a moderated mailing list for the advancement of minor criticism. more information: mail to: majordomo@rolux.org, subject line: , message body: info. further questions: mail to: rolux-owner@rolux.org. archive: http://www.rolux.org