Digital Millennium Copyright Act gone wild

[LostInSpace]

I was watching tech tv and they mentioned the DMCA and it's problems so I investigated and found quite a few abuses of this law.

DMCA

Here are a few excerpts:

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Sony Threatens Aibo Hobbyist

Sony has also invoked the DMCA against a hobbyist who developed custom programs for SonyÔÇÖs Aibo robotic ÔÇ£petÔÇØ dog. The hobbyist cracked the encryption surrounding the source code that manipulates the Aibo to reverse engineer programs that allow owners to customize voice recognition by their Aibos. The hobbyist revealed neither the decrypted source code nor the code he used to defeat the encryption, freely distributed his custom programs, and made no profit. Nevertheless, Sony claimed that the act of circumÔÇôventing the encryption surrounding the source code violated the DMCA and demanded that the hobbyist remove his programs from his website.

Responding to public outcry, Sony ultimately permitted the hobbyist to repost some of his programs (on the understanding that Sony will have the rights of commercial development in the programs). The incident, however, illustrated SonyÔÇÖs willingness to invoke the DMCA in situations with no relationship to ÔÇ£piracy.ÔÇØ

David Labrador, "Teaching Robot Dogs New Tricks,"Scientific American, Feb. 12, 2002.

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Apple Harasses Inventive Retailer

When Other World Computing (OWC), a small retailer specializing in Apple Macintosh computers, developed a software patch that allowed all Mac owners to use AppleÔÇÖs iDVD software, they thought they were doing AppleÔÇÖs fans a favor. For their trouble, they got a DMCA threat from Apple.

AppleÔÇÖs iDVD authoring software was designed to work on newer Macs that shipped with internal DVD recorders manufactured by Apple. OWC discovered that a minor software modification would allow iDVD to work with external DVD recorders, giving owners of older Macs an upgrade path. Apple claimed that this constituted a violation of the DMCA and requested that OWC stop this practice immediately. OWC obliged.

Rather than prevent copyright infringement, the DMCA empowered Apple to force consumers to buy new Mac computers instead of simply upgrading their older machines with an external DVD recorder.

Declan McCullagh ÔÇ£Apple: Burn DVDsÔÇöand WeÔÇÖll Burn You,ÔÇØ CNET News, Aug. 28, 2002.

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Disgruntled Ex-employer Sues For Unauthorized Network Access

In April 2003, an automated stock trading company sued a former contract programmer under the DMCA, claiming that his access to the companyÔÇÖs computer system over a password-protected Virtual Private Network tunnel connection was an act of circumvention. Pearl Investments had employed the programmer to create a software module for its software system. In order to complete the work remotely, the programmer connected a separate server to the companyÔÇÖs server, to which he connected from a VPN tunnel from his office. Although the contractor created a very successful software module for the company, the relationship turned frosty after the company ran into financial difficulties and terminated the contractorÔÇÖs contract.

The company sued the contractor when it discovered the contractorÔÇÖs server connected to the its system, claiming electronic trespass, violation of the anti-hacker legislation, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and violation of the DMCAÔÇÖs anti-circumvention provisions. Pearl claimed that it had taken away the authorization it had previously given to the contractor to access its system through the password-protected VPN and that the VPN connection was therefore unauthorized. The Court rejected the companyÔÇÖs electronic trespass and CFAA claims due to lack of evidence of any actual damage done. Even though the second server was not being used by the programmer at the time, and its hard drive had been accidentally wiped, the court agreed with Pearl that the existence of the VPN was a prohibited circumvention of a technological protection measure that controlled access to a system which contained copyrighted software.

As the DMCA has no harm threshold, the anti-circumvention provisions are open to misuse by unscrupulous companies who seek to avoid paying former employees or contractors by revoking authority previously granted and then alleging circumvention.

Pearl Investments LLC v. Standard I/O, Inc., 257 F. Supp. 2d 326 (D.Me., April 23, 2003).

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[Supreme Cmdr]

pah! thats nuthin'. I've heard worse. This DMCA farce is the biggest travesty since WINME.

[Epsilon 5]

Microsoft defined the fact that the so-called win-button is actually the lose-button (ever hit that key in a critical firefight in a game?)

Just a thought

[Fallout2man]

If you think the above is bad, you should hear the proposed intillectual property section of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) treaty.

This thing makes the existing america IP laws look leniant and if adopted would spread them across north and south America like a cancer.

Here's a link to a paper outlining the IP section, it's a bit long but worth a read.

[Guest]

*dies*

[weegee_101]

Sigh. I hate big business. The DMCA was made to help them stop their products from being stolen, and instead they abuse it by doing things like this.

Why can't we all just play Battlecruiser games and get along?

[LostInSpace]

quote:

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Originally posted by Epsilon 5:

Microsoft defined the fact that the so-called win-button is actually the lose-button (ever hit that key in a critical firefight in a game?)

Just a thought

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So far, I don't need to worry about that key. Believe it or not I'm still using a keyboard from an old Tandy 3000. This keyboard is built like a tank and has lasted just as long. One of the best features about it is NO WINDOWS KEY . Of course, I've credited this longevity to, in most part, the keyboard condom I keep on it.