How the DMCA Chills Research

I have a new piece in Slate, on how the DMCA chills security research. In the piece, I tell three stories of DMCA threats against Alex Halderman and me, and talk about how Congress can fix the problem.

“The Chilling Effects of the DMCA: The outdated copyright law doesn’t just hurt consumers—it cripples researchers.”

“These days almost everything we do in life is mediated by technology. Too often the systems we rely on are black boxes that we aren’t allowed to adjust, repair, or—too often—even to understand. A new generation of students wants to open them up, see how they work, and improve them. These students are the key to our future productivity—not to mention the security of our devices today. What we need is for the law to get out of their way.”