I thought this notice is important for free software developers (in particular) to be aware of. My hope is that this clause of the DMCA will be struck down by the courts as overreaching the powers of Congress, but we should be letting the library of congress know there are legitimate fair use issues with <insert your concern here>. I'm most concerned with the ability to read code (through decompiling or just disassembly) to understand the underlying ideas. This is currently considered fair use of code (see Sega vs. Accolade) in the US, to the dismay of many IP lawyers. Circumventing fair use via encryption and this clause of the DMCA is not a practice that should go without criticism.
Lynn ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 15:11:23 -0800 From: John Muller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Copyright Office Notice on Anti-Circumvention I haven't seen this news posted here, apologies if it already has been: On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the Copyright Office published a Notice of Inquiry inviting public comment on whether "there are classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses if they are prohibited from circumventing such technological measures." The Librarian of Congress has authority to exempt such classes of works from the anti-circumvention prohibition in Section 1201(a) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which goes into effect on 10/28/2000. The full text of the Federal Register release and other related info is available at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/1201/anticirc.html. Comments are due by February 10, 2000. John Muller [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The ladder of law has no top and no bottom"
