In an abrupt reversal, SunnComm Technologies said Friday that it will not sue a Princeton University graduate student who published a paper that describes how to bypass CD copy-protection technology simply by pressing the Shift key. SunnComm had angrily assailed Princeton doctoral student John “Alex” Halderman just a day before, claiming that his academic paper …

The Recording Industry Association of America is facing a legal challenge to its antipiracy tactics, even as it announces that it has reached settlements in dozens of lawsuits against individuals. In a move that could complicate the RIAA’s pursuit of peer-to-peer pirates, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday it had filed court documents accusing the trade association of illegally …

WASHINGTON–On May 16, 2002, top executives from the Recording Industry Association of America gathered to celebrate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a controversial law that Congress enacted in hopes of curbing online piracy. With glasses of champagne held high in the air, the RIAA, like-minded trade associations and friendly politicians–including at least one committee chairman–toasted the measure, one section of …

WASHINGTON–A federal appeals court on Tuesday scrutinized the details of a 1998 copyright law, wondering whether it permits the wide-scale unmasking of alleged peer-to-peer pirates by the music industry. The three-judge panel gave little indication of whether it would continue to permit the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to exploit the law’s turbocharged subpoena procedures in its campaign against …