---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 15:09:24 -0500 From: Richard Forno <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Law & Policy of Computer Communications <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Buy DVDs and games abroad - and break the law
Buy DVDs and games abroad - and break the law By Drew Cullen Posted: 24/01/2002 at 16:57 GMT British consumers will be on the wrong side of the law for the first time if they buy overseas DVDs or computer games 'unauthorised' for the UK and play them on their PCs at home. This is the major implication of a ruling in the High Court yesterday over the sale in the UK of 'mod-chips' for the Sony Playstation. <snip> However, there is tension between Jacob's ruling and explicit rights granted to UK consumers through the Sale of Good Act (SGA) and the Unfair Contract Terms Act (UCTA). But until a consumer, or a group of consumers, challenges Jacob's ruling, the rights of copyright holders will take precedence. In effect, the UK's Copyright and Patents Act 1988 gives copyright holders more power than America's highly controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), because there are no exceptions, as Martin Keegan, of the UK-based Campaign for Digital Rights points out. He expresses concern at yesterday's ruling. "Anti-circumvention law takes the balance in copyright law out of the hands of Parliament and the judges, and places it in the hands of technologists working for major media conglomerates. Full Story http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/23814.html ********************************************************************** For Listserv Instructions, see http://www.lawlists.net/cyberia Off-Topic threads: http://www.lawlists.net/mailman/listinfo/cyberia-ot Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] **********************************************************************
