CNET News.com: Court: Programming languages covered by First Amendment | Linux Today

CNET News.com: Court: Programming languages covered by First Amendment

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Apr 5, 2000

[ Thanks to David
Walser
for this link. ]

“A federal appeals court today cleared the way for a law
professor to post previously banned encryption software on the
Internet, finding that computer code qualifies as speech protected
by the First Amendment.”

“…the ruling could hold deeper significance for other
battles to keep computer code off of the Internet. According to
some legal analysts, programmers accused of wrongdoing could find a
powerful First Amendment defense if the decision holds.”

“For example, some theorized that today’s decision could test
the balance between free speech and copyright protections in
litigation between the movie industry and Web operators accused of
circulating a program that lets people crack the security on
DVDs.”


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Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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