April 10, 1994
COMPUTER CASE RAISES QUESTIONS


CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Federal prosecutors say the indictment
of an MIT computer science major is the first surge in an assault
on the illegal sharing of expensive copyrighted software.

But members of a budding computer rights movement say the case
could short-circuit computer users' First Amendment right to
information.

A federal grand jury Thursday indicted David LaMacchia, 20, a
junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on one count
of conspiring to commit wire fraud.

LaMacchia is charged with running a computer bulletin board that
allowed users to illegally copy more than $1 million worth of
copyrighted software for free -- everything from games to word
processing programs.

U.S. Attorney Donald K. Stern called LaMacchia's the
largest-ever case of computer piracy, and computer industry
observers said that many more will follow as technology makes the
exchange of information easier.

``In this new electronic environment it has become increasingly
difficult to protect intellectual property rights,'' Stern said.

But to Richard Stallman, a software writer who founded and
directs the Free Software Foundation, the government's case against
LaMacchia ``is an additional increment in how our freedom is
restricted to squeeze out every possible penny for those software
owners.''

Using the computer aliases ``John Gaunt'' and ``Grimjack,''
LaMacchia operated the computer bulletin board at MIT in late 1993
and early this year, according to the federal indictment.

Prosecutors said the bulletin board, named Cynosure, let people
on MIT's computer network and on the global Internet computer
network illegally share the software.

LaMacchia's attorney, David Duncan, said his client should not
be held responsible for the activities of other people who may or
may not have used his bulletin board.

``This raises serious First Amendment issues,'' Duncan said.
``Are you going to impose on the system operator the role of
censorship?''

Ken Wasch, executive director of the Software Publishers
Association, scoffed at that defense, saying ``The issue is what
the intention was.''

Prosecutors said they have evidence that LaMacchia requested
users to provide him with specific copyrighted software. But that
raises another complication in the prosecution of computer crimes,
since many messages sent electronically evaporate once read.

``Let them prove it,'' Duncan said.

The costs of software piracy are hard to pin down. The Software
Publishers Association estimates that people working in
corporations illegally shared nearly $1.6 billion worth of software
last year. There are no estimates of the extent of illegal
exchanges on computer networks.

Observers predicted many more piracy prosecutions, especially
considering the growing popularity of personal computer networks
like the Internet, in which millions of people can link up via
phone lines.

``The explosion on the Internet is creating new opportunities
for people to illegally duplicate and distribute copyrighted
materials,'' Wasch said.

But some in the growing computer rights movement argue that
electronic communication is meant to expand the exchange of
information. Prosecutions like the one now targeting LaMacchia,
they say, restrict it.

``The main thrust of digital technology is to make it easy to
copy and manipulate information,'' Stallman said. ``That's what
computers are for. But it turns out that this benefit doesn't suit
the owners of information. They don't want a free flow of
information.''

LaMacchia himself, who faces fines of up to $250,000 and
possible jail time, declined through his attorney to respond to
questions.