diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 4638746a..888796ca 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ Changes since version 7.0:
     - Fix .Dd macro in manpage #949
     - fix M1 homebrew path #950
     - CMake Enhancements #962
+    - Reduce programmer desc string length in avrdude.conf
+      to < 80 characters #1000
 
   * Internals:
 
diff --git a/src/avrdude.conf.in b/src/avrdude.conf.in
index 362b6167..ba7f4f8e 100644
--- a/src/avrdude.conf.in
+++ b/src/avrdude.conf.in
@@ -947,9 +947,10 @@ programmer
 ;
 
 # commercial version of USBtiny, using a separate VID/PID
+# https://github.com/IowaScaledEngineering/ckt-avrprogrammer
 programmer
   id    = "iseavrprog";
-  desc  = "USBtiny-based USB programmer, https://github.com/IowaScaledEngineering/ckt-avrprogrammer";
+  desc  = "USBtiny-based programmer, https://iascaled.com";
   type  = "usbtiny";
   connection_type = usb;
   usbvid     = 0x1209;