[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> He was asked about disabling something that's not illegal.
>
> Mr. Yarmulka-head replied that while the Digital Millenium Act
> allows you to make your own copy of a CD, it also allows
> companies to prevent copying.
>
> Ugh, that brings up a question.
>
> If it's illegal to circumvent a copy protection scheme,
> is it still illegal to do so if making a personal copy
> is legal?
>
> Or is circumventing a copy protection scheme a general thing,
> separate from the copying step?
Exactly. That is the main problem with the DMCA.
With the DMCA in hand, a publisher can bundle piracy protection
measures with other restrictions and have the entire bundle protected
by law.
According to judge Kaplan in the MPAA vs 2600 case, fair use is
not a defence for circumventing a technological protection measure.
http://www.eff.org/pub/Intellectual_property/Video/MPAA_DVD_cases/20000830_ny_amended_opinion.pdf
This is already being abused. See for example the DVD region lock,
or some of the (un)popular eBook formats.
And this is not only a US problem anymore. A new copyright directive
with similar provisions were signed by EU recently, and will be
law in most EU countries within 18 months.
http://eurorights.org/eudmca/
http://eurorights.org/eudmca/CopyrightDirective.html
If you also look at the current trend in adding 'copyright protection'
to new hardware (most recordable media, most - if not all - new PC
buses, sound- and videocards, digital TV receivers, etc) you will see
that RMS' right-to-read nightmare world could become true.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
This is the framework the MPAA and RIAA wants to see:
http://www.dvdcca.org/4centity/data/tech/cpsa/cpsa081.pdf
--
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead.
