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Section 1201 also makes it illegal to circumvent DRM measures or manufacture/import/provide tools that do. > (2)No person shall manufacture, import, offer to t

by judge2020 5y ago

Section 1201 also makes it illegal to circumvent DRM measures or manufacture/import/provide tools that do. > (2)No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that (A)is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title; Although, i'm not sure if DMCA notices commonly used for infringing content also work for violations of section 1201. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201

stefan_ 5y ago
Implementing a DRM scheme is not circumventing it. No circumvention here, you still need the password.
- judge2020 5y ago
  Didn’t realize that, but I am still interested in whether or not a ‘DMCA notice’ can be used for the entire statute or just in removing duplicate copies of infringing content.
  - wtallis 5y ago
    The DMCA notice process is specifically about copyright infringement. The circumvention prohibited by chapter 12, section 1201 is not included in the definition of copyright infringement provided in chapter 5, and chapter 12 defines its own set of remedies for violations (both civil and criminal). So it seems completely unjustified to use the formal DMCA notice process for this kind of complaint—there's no copyright infringement here, so there's no need for a takedown process that protects online providers from being liable for their users' infringing activities.
  - Mindwipe 5y ago
    There are various notices with different rules, and it's somewhat dumbing it down to refer to a singular "DMCA notice", which generally here is used to refer to a copyright takedown request but has never actually really mean that.
- wtallis 5y ago
  I think you need the password and authorization from the copyright owner. The law provides this definition: > a technological measure “effectively controls access to a work” if the measure, in the ordinary course of its operation, requires the application of information, or a process or a treatment, with the authority of the copyright owner, to gain access to the work. DeDRM tools are obviously not the ordinary course of operation for the DRM system chosen by the copyright owner, and using (for a different purpose than intended) a decryption key that the copyright owner has taken deliberate steps to hide from the consumer stretches any notion of "with the authority of the copyright owner". Copyright licenses usually come with strings attached, especially with regards to what kinds of uses are being authorized.
  - schoen 5y ago
    Someone downvoted you earlier, I imagine for not liking this situation. I don't like it either, but I worked with lawyers fighting the DMCA for a long time and many courts have interpreted it the way you describe. I wish people wouldn't downvote the proverbial messenger for reporting on the legal status quo!
  - salawat 5y ago
    I would argue that the failure in the presence of an alternate means to facilitate decryption is a negater of the whole "effectively" clause. That's okay though. Civil disobedience is the best way to go I'm afraid.
    - wtallis 5y ago
      At first glance, the "effectively" does seem rather silly, especially when applied to weak DRM that's more or less trivially cracked. But the "ordinary course of its operation" is what gives it force, by protecting DRM from being disqualified as ineffective when subjected to conditions beyond ordinary operation. It's not a question of whether the DRM is robust against attack, but whether it normally presents any real barrier to non-hackers.
      - Mindwipe 5y ago
R0b0t1 5y ago
You're allowed to circumvent if you own a license to the protected work. So, implementing or even cracking a DRM scheme is not enough to take it down.
- wtallis 5y ago
  > You're allowed to circumvent if you own a license to the protected work. No, you're not—unless you fall under one of the several exceptions that are all far narrower than "if you own a license". Some of those exceptions are spelled out in the statute, and others are made on a temporary basis by the Librarian of Congress.
- 29083011397778 5y ago
  In Canada, sure. Unfortunately for this case, Canadian laws don't apply worldwide.
Youden 5y ago
There are a number of exceptions, determined by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/28/2021-23311/exemption-to-prohibition-on-circumvention-of-copyright-protection-systems-for-access-control https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/28/2021-23... Among them are exceptions for assistive technologies and research.

stefan_ 5y ago

Implementing a DRM scheme is not circumventing it. No circumvention here, you still need the password.

judge2020 5y ago
Didn’t realize that, but I am still interested in whether or not a ‘DMCA notice’ can be used for the entire statute or just in removing duplicate copies of infringing content.
- wtallis 5y ago
  The DMCA notice process is specifically about copyright infringement. The circumvention prohibited by chapter 12, section 1201 is not included in the definition of copyright infringement provided in chapter 5, and chapter 12 defines its own set of remedies for violations (both civil and criminal). So it seems completely unjustified to use the formal DMCA notice process for this kind of complaint—there's no copyright infringement here, so there's no need for a takedown process that protects online providers from being liable for their users' infringing activities.
- Mindwipe 5y ago
  There are various notices with different rules, and it's somewhat dumbing it down to refer to a singular "DMCA notice", which generally here is used to refer to a copyright takedown request but has never actually really mean that.
wtallis 5y ago
I think you need the password and authorization from the copyright owner. The law provides this definition: > a technological measure “effectively controls access to a work” if the measure, in the ordinary course of its operation, requires the application of information, or a process or a treatment, with the authority of the copyright owner, to gain access to the work. DeDRM tools are obviously not the ordinary course of operation for the DRM system chosen by the copyright owner, and using (for a different purpose than intended) a decryption key that the copyright owner has taken deliberate steps to hide from the consumer stretches any notion of "with the authority of the copyright owner". Copyright licenses usually come with strings attached, especially with regards to what kinds of uses are being authorized.
- schoen 5y ago
  Someone downvoted you earlier, I imagine for not liking this situation. I don't like it either, but I worked with lawyers fighting the DMCA for a long time and many courts have interpreted it the way you describe. I wish people wouldn't downvote the proverbial messenger for reporting on the legal status quo!
- salawat 5y ago
  I would argue that the failure in the presence of an alternate means to facilitate decryption is a negater of the whole "effectively" clause. That's okay though. Civil disobedience is the best way to go I'm afraid.
  - wtallis 5y ago
    At first glance, the "effectively" does seem rather silly, especially when applied to weak DRM that's more or less trivially cracked. But the "ordinary course of its operation" is what gives it force, by protecting DRM from being disqualified as ineffective when subjected to conditions beyond ordinary operation. It's not a question of whether the DRM is robust against attack, but whether it normally presents any real barrier to non-hackers.
    - Mindwipe 5y ago

R0b0t1 5y ago

You're allowed to circumvent if you own a license to the protected work. So, implementing or even cracking a DRM scheme is not enough to take it down.

wtallis 5y ago
> You're allowed to circumvent if you own a license to the protected work. No, you're not—unless you fall under one of the several exceptions that are all far narrower than "if you own a license". Some of those exceptions are spelled out in the statute, and others are made on a temporary basis by the Librarian of Congress.
29083011397778 5y ago
In Canada, sure. Unfortunately for this case, Canadian laws don't apply worldwide.

Youden 5y ago

There are a number of exceptions, determined by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/28/2021-23311/exemption-to-prohibition-on-circumvention-of-copyright-protection-systems-for-access-control https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/28/2021-23... Among them are exceptions for assistive technologies and research.