Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 21:39:42 +0200 From: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@online.fr> To: Mike Meyer <mwm-dated-1022009201.1eddc0@mired.org> Cc: Nils Holland <nils@daemon.tisys.org>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: The road ahead? Message-ID: <20020516213942.A92810@lpt.ens.fr> In-Reply-To: <15588.2033.334082.580672@guru.mired.org>; from mwm-dated-1022009201.1eddc0@mired.org on Thu, May 16, 2002 at 02:26:41PM -0500 References: <15586.61471.456290.764885@guru.mired.org> <20020515211922.J1282@darkstar.gte.net> <3CE34A8B.7D999E2C@mindspring.com> <20020516091031.A2259@daemon.tisys.org> <15587.56669.382241.766052@guru.mired.org> <20020516192546.B8944@daemon.tisys.org> <20020516193049.G79514@lpt.ens.fr> <15587.65524.899611.798267@guru.mired.org> <20020516210154.L79514@lpt.ens.fr> <15588.2033.334082.580672@guru.mired.org>
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Mike Meyer said on May 16, 2002 at 14:26:41: > > I'm not sure about private use, but it *does* forbid you to tell > > people how you break encryption, and it *does* outlaw devices which > > let you break the encryption, regardless of intent. That's exactly > > what both the DeCSS and the Sklyarov cases were about -- both DeCSS > > and Elcomsoft's program have legitimate uses but that doesn't matter > > under the DMCA. It's an exact analogy to the knife example above. > > Um, no. The DMCA makes it illegal to *distribute* such device, not to > *own* them. The Elcomsoft and DeCSS cases were because the people in > question started *distributing* them. Well, if you obtained a knife, someone gave it to you or sold it to you, unless you manufacture knives. By "outlawing knives" I assume was meant "outlawing their distribution. I'm not sure about mere possession -- that may be a red herring, but "unauthorized access" of your own DVD is illegal under the DMCA, even if you wrote the code yourself -- you can't watch a DVD legally on a FreeBSD laptop. Strangely, copying under some circumstances may be legal. From http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf (page 3-4) Section 1201 divides technological measures into two categories: measures that prevent unauthorized *access* to a copyrighted work and measures that prevent unauthorized *copying* of a copyrighted work. Making or selling devices or services that are used to circumvent either category of technological measure is prohibited in certain circumstances, described below. As to the act of circumvention in itself, the provision prohibits circumventing the first of the technological measures, but not the second. Goes on to say that "fair use" may sometimes require unauthorized copying but never unauthorized access. Both DeCSS and Elcomsoft were about access. -- Rahul To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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