Three Years Under the DMCA

willybur writes "The Electronic Frontier Foundation just released a report (pdf) today detailing the last three years under the DMCA. It describes how the DMCA has been used to unfairly attempt to prosecute all of the various parties over the years, and gives yet another argument of why the DMCA needs to be struck down. It's worth a read." Slashdot has covered most of the incidents listed, but this is nice summary to hand someone who hasn't been following these issues.

Comments

Expanding the DMCAA

[Alien54]

This fits in well with this list of Ten New Copyright Crimes as seen posted over on the LawMeme website.

Which, if anything, is an indicator on where things are going.

Welcome to the world of Max Headroom!

Chilling effect of DMCA on anti-censorware work

[Seth Finkelstein]

I can attest to the chilling effect of the DMCA. It's severely hindered my anticensorware work. That effect on me, and others, was responsible for one of the two anticircumvention exceptions granted by the Librarian of Congress, in the Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures that Control Access to Copyrighted Works (Compilations consisting of lists of websites blocked by [censorware] ... )

Nete, the DMCA Slashdot incident, Microsoft Asks Slashdot To Remove Readers' Posts, was exactly one of the DMCA incidents in mind as a factor when I made my Slashdot article code proposal in order to get some support for publishing anti-censorware code. Too bad nothing came of it (I don't say Slashdot had to help me out, I'm just pointing out the connections). But the DMCA chilling effect on me for anticensorware work is very real, and well-ground in DMCA court cases. `

Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

Jurisdiction of the DCMA laws?

[galaga79]

Forgive my ignorance on the matter, but does the DCMA only have jurisdiction in the United States? I ask because in the article it mentions foreign researchers being weary of visiting the US following the arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov. So if it is only applicable in the US how does it affect those of us in Australia and other countries?

the American Way is dying -- or did it ever exist?

[Anonymous Coward]

As a non-USian, I would like to add that never before in the history of the world has a superpower been shunned at by so many varying countries of so many economic and socio-political systems for its pompous self-righteousness and joke of a leader.

While the USA sits alone thinking it's doing better than ever, the rest of the world is taking the unilateralist USA and its false "free market" vision less seriously by the hour. The last decade has shown Denmark, Austria, Holland and now France growing huge support for national socialist parties as the only cause loud enough to halt the relentless privatisation and destruction of the government's duty to support its people. Even recent local elections in the UK have shown an average 20% vote for the British National Party on councils where it stood.

Once the "national" aspect of national socialism is tempered in favour of the "socialism" aspect, these parties will gain widespread acclaim and a serious chance of power.

Legitimate use of DMCA?

[Mekanix]

With all these examples of how the DMCA have been used to stiffle competition, kill free speech, hinder research and bury fair use I'm wondering if the DMCA ever have been used in legitimate cases; ie. cases that actually involved piracy/copyrightinfringement?

Re:No No No, Wrong Wrong Wrong!

[camusflage]

Interesting, but irrelevant. You have no legal "right" to play DVD's wherever you want to. That's why the algorithms are licensed.

The problem, legally speaking, comes in because they take away your right of fair use. Fair use is given to the public in exchange for strong copyright laws. In this case, the DVDCCA wants to have its cake (strong copyright laws) and eat it too (not allowing fair use).

Re:Three years, and still no Supreme Court decisio

[MoneyT]

I actualy submitted to Ask Slashdot an idea revolving arround forming an interest group (kind of like an ACLU for Slashdotters). The basic idea was if we have a group of people willing to take these things to court and they get the money from people on slashdot donating, we might actualy get something out of this. We might be able to fight the DMCA. But the story got rejected. Any ways, that's the only real way I see of getting this done. We need our own group of lobyists.

Companies to boycott/avoid/villify?

[genmanath]

I read the EFF document. To me, it seemed like an effective explanation of the evils of the DCMA. Honestly, though, the "DMCA is evil" case seems more strongly made by the "science and innovation are being stifled" angle. One may argue in circles about who owns or may use a movie, but since when are science, the progression of knowledge, etc., either private property or less important than the means in which they are used? Since when has a better firewall or less vulnerable web browser been a bad thing? Anyway, what is past is prologue. As I was reading, I came across some unfortunate news. I knew about the embed case, etc. I had hoped Blizzard hadn't wielded the Great Mace of DCMA, but it appears my hopes were in vain. So...which companies haven't done this sort of thing? Will we have to choose between the best games in a genre and opposition to the DCMA?