"Hacking & the Law: What Are the Legal Considerations of Tinkering with Software & Hardware?"
Presentation for the Cherry Hill Linux Users Group (CHLUG)
Friday 1 Aug 2008 from 7pm to 9pm
in the Multicultural Room of The Cherry Hill Public Library.
1100 Kings Highway N., Cherry Hill, NJ. [Directions]
The meeting is open to the public.

UPDATE 24 Aug 2008: The slides from the presentation (including updates) are now online. [pdf]

When I offered to speak at a CHLUG meeting, I asked what information security topics they wanted covered. The answer was "Hacking & the Law". Interesting, but it is too vast a topic to cover in 45 minutes. I asked what they meant by "hacking". The CHLUG members explained they were interested in "hacking" as it pertains to tinkering with software and hardware. Since this is a Linux users group, the emphasis would be upon free & open source (F/OSS) concepts. Excellent!

Some of the things I'll cover include

• Quick overview of concepts such as copyrights, fair use, and patents.
• Overview of F/OSS licensing approaches such as GPL ones.
  
• Can F/OSS licensing provisions be enforced by law?
  
• Hardware tinkering issues such as "Tivoization" where a system incorprates F/OSS but the hardware is designed to prevent modification of the code.
• Examination of the issues raised by things such as the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions.
• Issues that can arise when publicising info about our tinkering.
• Suggestions for dealing with these issues.
  

(NOTE: I am not a lawyer and this general presentation is not a substitute for competent legal counsel.)

J.D. Abolins