Appeals court says free speech trumps security

In a case closely monitored by the AAUP, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled unanimously in early April that the posting of computer encryption codes on the Web by an Ohio law professor is protected under the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of free speech. The professor challenged federal regulations requiring a government license to post such encryption code online.

The ruling reversed a federal district court ruling and handed a victory to Case Western Reserve University law school professor Peter Junger and the AAUP. The AAUP had joined the University of Virginia's Thomas Jefferson Center for Free Expression in filing an amicus brief in the case, arguing that suppression of the code on a Web site designed to show Junger's students how the code operates would jeopardize scholarly research and compromise academic freedom. Such arguments apparently proved persuasive to the appellate court judges.

"Because computer source code is an expressive means for the exchange of information and ideas about computer programming, we hold that it is protected by the First Amendment," stated the opinion, written by Boyce F. Martin, Jr., chief judge of the Sixth Circuit.

"We are delighted with the court's recognition that the First Amendment protects computer source code as a teaching tool and a subject of academic study," says Donna Euben, the AAUP's counsel.

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