SDMI paper wurde nicht präsentiert

["Stefan Bechtold" <stef@n-bechtold.com>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 08:51:31 -0400
From: Edward W. Felten <felten@CS.Princeton.EDU>
To: sdmi-paper-info@CS.Princeton.EDU
Subject: Reading Between the Lines: Lessons from the SDMI Challenge

The following statement was read by Edward W. Felten today at the Fourth
International Information Hiding Workshop, in Pittsburgh.

===============

On behalf of the authors of the paper "Reading Between the Lines:
Lessons from the SDMI Challenge," I am disappointed to tell you that we
will not be presenting our paper today.

Our paper was submitted via the normal academic peer-review process.
The reviewers, who were chosen for their scientific reputations and
credentials, enthusiastically recommended the paper for publication, due
to their judgment of the paper's scientific merit.

Nevertheless, the Recording Industry Association of America, the SDMI
Foundation, and the Verance Corporation threatened to bring a lawsuit if
we proceeded with our presentation or the publication of our paper.
Threats were made against the authors, against the conference
organizers, and against their respective employers.

Litigation is costly, time-consuming, and uncertain, regardless of the
merits of the other side's case.  Ultimately we, the authors, reached a
collective decision not to expose ourselves, our employers, and the
conference organizers to litigation at this time.

We remain committed to free speech and to the value of scientific debate
to our country and the world.   We believe that people benefit from
learning the truth about the products they are asked to buy.   We will
continue to fight for these values, and for the right to publish our
paper.

We look forward to the day when we can present the results of our
research to you, our colleagues, through the normal scientific
publication process, so that you can judge our work for yourselves.