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Illustrious Security Researchers file amicus brief telling court: We do what Andrew Auernheimer did. ~pj

By Pamela Jones et al.

A group of illustrious computer scientists, computer science professors, software developers, privacy researchers, professional and freelance computer security researchers, and academics have filed an amicus brief [PDF] in support of Andrew "weev" Auernheimer. They include Mozilla Foundation, Ed Felten, Matt Blaze, David L. Dill, Bruce Schneier, and Dan Kaminsky. Biographies are included in the filing for any who don't immediately recognize their names, at the very end as the attached Exhibit A.

What is their concern? Security research depends on being able to do exactly the sort of thing that Auernheimer was just sent to jail for:

Many Amici routinely scrutinize websites, software interfaces, electronic devices, and other computer systems for security and privacy shortcomings, and use information derived from such testing in their work. Researchers commonly test public, unsecured websites to discover how they collect, store, and use consumer information. These tests may include sending websites a series of similar information requests, changing a variable each time to see how the website will respond. As Defendant-Appellant Andrew Auernheimer did, researchers usually use software programs, or "scripts" to automate these changes and thereby quickly collect more data....

Amici have diverse and deep technological expertise in computer security and privacy from both an academic and practical perspective. Their work - and that of numerous other researchers and security and privacy professionals - is critical to helping protect security and privacy on the computer networks that are key for our nation and economy.

This legitimate, highly valuable research commonly employs techniques that are essentially identical to what Defendant-Appellant did in this case. Most importantly, like Auernheimer, researchers cannot always conduct testing with the approval of a computer system's owner. Such independent research is of great value to academics, government regulators and the public even when - often especially when - conducted without permission and contrary to the website owner's subjective wishes.

Computer security research is vital too "helping protect security and privacy on the computer networks that are key for our nation and economy." If his conviction stands, what happens to this vital research?

Full post as published by Groklaw on July 11, 2013 (boomark / email).