by Robert W. Smith -
The French student Guillaume Tena is facing breach of copyright charges in a French court because he discovered and revealed security loopholes in an anti-virus program. The French public prosecutor claims that in doing so the student had violated the Law on Intellectual Property and is hence calling for him to be fined 6,000 euros and given a four-month suspended jail sentence. The damages claimed by Tegam, the manufacturer of the software, amount to as much as 900,000 euros.
Mr. Tena had investigated the anti-virus software Viguard, the use of which is more or less confined to France, and thereby discovered that it was possible to circumvent the protection conferred by the program. The insights he gained as a result of his investigation he then publish under the pseudonym Guillermito on his own website. Thereupon in 2002 the manufacturer of the software filed a lawsuit for breach of copyright. The complaint filed with the court claimed that Mr. Tena had used a pirated copy of the program, disassembled the same, and published part of the code. Mr. Tena denies the accusations.
The proceedings finally began in Paris a few days ago; the court is expected to pronounce its judgement on March 8. Should Mr. Tena be convicted this could create a precedent, at least within France, as to how security loopholes are handled which is likely to place security experts in a bind. The Register quotes Gilles Fabienni, who works for the French security portal K-otic as expressing the fear that "full disclosure could become illegal in France."
Source: Heise Online Germany
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