Filter Case Pits Copyright vs. Free Speech
A federal judge in Massachusetts is expected to rule today whether a computer program that disables the nation’s most popular Internet filtering software is a copyright violation, or a protected form of speech.
The ruling could have important consequences both for Internet free speech activists, as well as the hundreds of thousands of households in the United States that rely on software filters to control the content their children encounter on the Net.
Microsystems Software Inc., the maker of the popular CyberPatrol program, has sued two foreign programmers who earlier this month posted on the Net a program that can be used by children or young adults to bypass CyberPatrol’s restrictions by uncovering their parents’ passwords.
Microsystems is seeking a preliminary injunction that would force the creators of the program, called “cphack,” to take it off the Net. U.S. District Judge Edward F. Harrington in Boston has already issued a 10-day temporary restraining order against the two hackers, but that is scheduled to expire today.
Microsystems’ suit accuses the two hackers--Matthew Skala of Canada and Eddy L.O. Jansson of Sweden--of violating copyright laws. The suit claims the two programmers illegally made a copy of the CyberPatrol source code before they “reverse-engineered” it to create their hacking program.
“Breaking into filtering software has become something of a cottage industry for boys 17 to 25,” said Sydney Rubin, a spokeswoman for Boston-based Microsystems. “But these two didn’t just find a vulnerability. They broke in and stole the code.”
Civil liberties groups have argued, however, that banning the “cphack” program would be an illegal prior restraint on speech. They claim the program is an embarrassment to Microsystems, not only because it circumvents its security, but also because it can be used to produce a list of sites that CyberPatrol blocks.
Neither Skala nor Jansson is expected to attend, or even send representatives to today’s hearing. But attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union said they plan to argue the case on behalf of other Web site operators who were served with subpoenas after posting copies of the “cphack” program.
“All my clients did was put up original [intellectual] material on their Web sites,” said Chris Hansen, an ACLU attorney who is representing three Web site operators. “CyberPatrol is trying to prevent people from having the facts about their product.”
Rubin said Microsystems has modified CyberPatrol so that the “cphack” program no longer disables the filter.
The suit comes at a time when a number of state and federal legislators, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), are proposing legislation that would require many public schools and libraries to install filtering software on computers that children use.
