Cory Doctorow, a former EFF staff member, dared to criticize as
"malware" an anti-copying technology used in many video games and
created by a company called StarForce:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/30/anticopying_malware_.html
Now StarForce's PR Manager Dennis Zhidkov, who lives in Moscow, is
making spurious legal threats. Zhidkov claimed, variously, that
StarForce will "press charges," that the published criticism violates
"11 international laws," and that he has contacted the FBI to protest
"harassment." See:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/31/starforce_threatens_.html
Here's information about Mr. Zhidkov:
http://www.star-force.com/protection.phtml?c=83&id=692
And a discussion of this silliness:
http://it.slashdot.org/it/06/01/31/1721241.shtml
It would be silliness, at least, if there was zero chance that this will
escalate. But sometimes companies have more money than sense, and
there's at least a possibility that StarForce will follow through on its
threat and file a vexatious lawsuit designed to shut up its critics.
So it's important to show our support for Cory.
-Declan
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