At 9:26 PM -0700 7/23/01, Tim May wrote:
At 11:44 PM -0400 7/23/01, Declan McCullagh wrote:
Another effect will be companies that wish to take advantage of the criminal sections of the DMCA will be more likely to cover their tracks when dealing with the Feds. The next Adobe won't be so quick to admit they contacted the FBI, for instance.
Something's that interesting is the _speed_ and _strength_ of the reactions against companies when they cross some line.
Adobe's use of police state measures to have a minor critic (by their own later admission) yanked out of a conference is not likely to be forgotten quickly. I expect this will have consequences when they eventually resume college recruiting. Adobe will likely face sneers and derisive laughter when it shows up on college campuses next spring to recruit.
One would hope, but I suspect that between now and next spring three or four things will come up that will distract the students attention from Adobe--it helps them that the got things sorted out rather quickly, before it got really big--so there wasn't a *lot* of mainstream coverage over many days to burn it into the publics mind.
Adobe will be suffering for a long time to come.
As much as I agree with the sentiment, I doubt it.