The DMCA can't touch scientific research, for now. Thanks to the hard work of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Check out Scientist Ends Crusade Against Copyright Law, by David McGuire for NewsBytes.

A Princeton University professor today announced that he would end his legal challenge of a controversial U.S. copyright law that he says was invoked to prevent him from publishing research that exposed holes in recording industry-backed anti-piracy technology.

Princeton professor Edward Felten and his team of scientists said they would not appeal a New Jersey federal court's decision to dismiss their case against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Felten announced the decision through the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which has been representing his scientific team.

Although the RIAA admits that it sent a letter to Felten last year warning him that he could face prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) should he publish his research, the industry group later retracted the threat, calling the letter a "mistake."

That retraction, coupled with assurances from the U.S. government that the DMCA does not apply to scientific research, prompted the New Jersey court to dismiss the case last November.

"I think the scientists decided that they would take the RIAA at its word," EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said of the Felten team's decision not to appeal the case. "They were quite anxious to get on with their work."