A Dutch court has rejected a request from NXP to prevent the publication of a scientific study of the security of the firm’s MIFARE Classic technology. The requested restraining order was against researchers with the University of Nijmegen, whose research into the cryptography of the Mifare Classic questions the chip’s security.
The court ruled that freedom of speech outweighs NXP’s commercial interests. The judge argued that freedom of speech applies to scientific research as well as individuals.
“This requires a balancing of interests,” the court stated in a press release. “It should be considered that the publication of scientific studies carries a lot of weight in a democratic society, as does informing society about serious issues in the chip, because it allows for mitigating of the risks.”
NXP argued that the research would irresponsibly expose the MIFARE Classic to hacking, adversely affecting public transit and other systems using the chip. The researchers responded that NXP has been allowed ample time to fix the problems, pointing out that clones of the chip have been available since 2004, indicating a public knowledge of its inner workings for at least that long.
The researchers will continue presenting their findings in October, barring further legal wrangling.
See our previous coverage of the NXP lawsuit here. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/contactlessnews-4.gif)
