The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

CJMClark writes "I am a university student working on a public policy analysis of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and I am interested in (since the government's stance is pretty clear) the opinions of members of the computing community as regards this particular piece of legislation and its effect on the freedom of information. Has the government, in your opinion, gone too far or overstepped its bounds? Have you been affected by the DMCA? How is it that the government can prohibit an average U.S. citizen from decrypting encrypted files, and yet also attempt to force Kevin Mitnick to decrypt his personal files? Is this a blatant violation of the fair use clause of Title 17? All replies will be held strictly confidential, as I am simply trying to get a feel for how this legislation affects those citizens who, on the whole, are technologically oriented.

Please feel free to post replies to this post, or simply e-mail them to me at CJMClark@hotmail.com. I welcome any and all opinions on this matter.

Carl J. Clark
"Justice for All in the Digital Age" "