EFF Warns Texas Instruments to Stop Harassing Calculator Hobbyists

“TI’s calculators perform a “signature check” that allows only
approved operating systems to be loaded onto the hardware. But
researchers were able to reverse-engineer signing keys, allowing
tinkers to install custom operating systems and unlock new
functionality in the calculators’ hardware. In response to this
discovery, TI unleashed a torrent of demand letters claiming that
the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA) required the hobbyists to take down commentary
about and links to the keys. EFF represents three men who received
such letters. “The DMCA should not be abused to censor online
discussion by people who are behaving perfectly legally,” said Tom
Cross, who blogs at memestreams.net. “It’s legal to engage in
reverse engineering, and its legal to talk about reverse
engineering.”

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