On Monday Halderman published a report on his web site, analysing the copy-protection system recently launched by SunnComm Technologies on a CD album by Anthony Hamilton.
The software is designed to prevent further copies of the album being made but, according to the report, simply holding down the Shift key when a protected CD is inserted on a Windows PC should prevent the software from being downloaded at all.
The report also detailed how the protection could be evaded in the event that the software did download.
SunnComm, whose technology has already been licensed to and used by BMG, announced yesterday that it intends to take Halderman to court.
According to Peter Jacobs, SunnComm's CEO, "The conclusions contained in the Princeton University grad student's report issued last Monday were derived from incorrect assumptions by its author."
As a result, says SunnComm, Halderman came to false conclusions concerning the robustness and efficacy of SunnComm's MediaMax technology. Based on several of these incorrect assumptions, says SunnComm, Halderman and Princeton University have significantly damaged SunnComm's reputation and caused the market value of SunnComm to drop by more than $10 million.
SunnComm also claims that Halderman has violated the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which prohibits people from using or distributing devices that can bypass copyrights and copy prevention measures. Such action is a criminal offence under the DMCA.
SunnComm is to refer the matter to law enforcement, on the grounds that Halderman disclosed details of unpublished MediaMax management files placed on a user's computer after user approval is granted. If a user knows the identity of this file, and follows the instructions given by Halderman, the copyright protection can be bypassed, said SunnComm.
Jacobs remarked, "This cat-and-mouse game that hackers and others like to play with owners of digital property is over. No matter what their credentials or rationale, it is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate piracy and theft of digital property."
Fred von Lohmann, lawyer for rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, had a different interpretation of events.
"What more proof do you need that the DMCA is chilling legitimate research?" he asked. "In America today, scientists shouldn't have to fear legal action for publishing the truth. Based on the apparent weakness of its technology, perhaps SunnComm should be hiring more Princeton computer scientists, instead of threatening to sue them."
Last year it was revealed that technology developed by Sony Music to protect CDs against copying could be cracked by using a cheap felt-tip marker pen.