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From TFA: "The DMCA only permits you to unlock your phone yourself once you've asked your carrier first." This struck me as odd. Not having read it myself, I

From TFA: "The DMCA only permits you to unlock your phone yourself once you've asked your carrier first." This struck me as odd. Not having read it myself, I didn't realize the DMCA was that particular. So, is this "illegal" in the sense that ripping your own DVDs is "illegal"? Will we have "cellphone johns" under fire from phone maker and phone-unlocking code on t-shirts in a few weeks/months? I've never owned a phone fancy enough to warrant unlocking, but this news irks me nonetheless. Seems plain as day that once you buy hardware, you have the right to modify it and use it as you see fit, so long as you own it outright. Let the game of whack-a-mole begin...

eli 14y ago
Yes, it is illegal in very much the same way that ripping your own DVDs is illegal (no need for scare quotes -- it really is illegal, even if you think it shouldn't be)
- pbhjpbhj 14y ago
  >ripping your own DVDs is illegal // That's not true in the USA is it - I understood that Fair Use terms meant that you could rip your own DVDs for backup, format shifting and such personal activities. Perhaps the person using the scare quotes considers that perfectly moral activities that are classified in statute as being illegal are overridden by the demos' agreed morality of the actions. Does anyone find making/using a backup - even if it's format shifted, even if you torrent the backup - to be immoral given you paid your share of the copyright license already?
  - dtparr 14y ago
    If the dvd is protected by a technical mechanism which you are circumventing in ripping it, then yes, it is unless you meet one of the LoC exemptions. In the current phase they allowed it only for disability access and for short clips for documentaries, educational use, etc. They specifically denied an exemption for space-shifting, so ripping a DVD to view on a tablet, for instance, is still a DMCA violation. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/jailbreaking-now-legal-under-dmca-for-smartphones-but-not-tablets/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/jailbreaking-now-...
- darkarmani 14y ago
  > it really is illegal, even if you think it shouldn't be Is there anyone besides the LoC and the DVD lobby that think it should be illegal? I've no doubt that the majority of the computer owning public are guilty of this "crime." We only have to wait another 20 years before DVD media starts to fail and maybe we'll see this "decriminalized."

eli 14y ago

Yes, it is illegal in very much the same way that ripping your own DVDs is illegal (no need for scare quotes -- it really is illegal, even if you think it shouldn't be)

pbhjpbhj 14y ago
>ripping your own DVDs is illegal // That's not true in the USA is it - I understood that Fair Use terms meant that you could rip your own DVDs for backup, format shifting and such personal activities. Perhaps the person using the scare quotes considers that perfectly moral activities that are classified in statute as being illegal are overridden by the demos' agreed morality of the actions. Does anyone find making/using a backup - even if it's format shifted, even if you torrent the backup - to be immoral given you paid your share of the copyright license already?
- dtparr 14y ago
  If the dvd is protected by a technical mechanism which you are circumventing in ripping it, then yes, it is unless you meet one of the LoC exemptions. In the current phase they allowed it only for disability access and for short clips for documentaries, educational use, etc. They specifically denied an exemption for space-shifting, so ripping a DVD to view on a tablet, for instance, is still a DMCA violation. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/jailbreaking-now-legal-under-dmca-for-smartphones-but-not-tablets/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/jailbreaking-now-...
darkarmani 14y ago
> it really is illegal, even if you think it shouldn't be Is there anyone besides the LoC and the DVD lobby that think it should be illegal? I've no doubt that the majority of the computer owning public are guilty of this "crime." We only have to wait another 20 years before DVD media starts to fail and maybe we'll see this "decriminalized."