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Universal Garage Door Opener OK under DMCA

Posted by timothy on from the how-totally-amazing dept.

Dave Walker writes "According to the EFF's Deep Links page, the Federal Circuit yesterday affirmed that the DMCA does not 'divest the public of the property rights that the Copyright Act has long granted to the public.' The ruling goes on to state 'Consumers who purchase a product containing a copy of embedded software have the inherent legal right to use that copy of the software. What the law authorizes, Chamberlain cannot revoke.' EFF's archives of the case can be found here. Another small victory for the good guys. I think I need a new garage door opener anyhow."

3 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. So does this mean... by jbarr · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...that I can legally produce a product that contains a copy of the DVD decryption software found in a DVD player to play or duplicate encrypted DVD's?

    --
    My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
  2. Re:Small? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It is possible to express yourself without using the word "fuck" in every post. Or is it your goal to appear crass?

  3. Re:How far reaching is this? by bay43270 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Breaking encryption schemes is entirely different from utilizing the decryption software in your computer/DVD player. This is about usage. Nothing more.

    DeCSS doesn't break anything anymore than a third party garage door remote 'breaks' the garage door opener. It uses the existing code. The only difference is a matter of degree. CSS goes a little further in obscuring its interface than a garage door opener does. If "Consumers who purchase a product containing a copy of embedded software have the inherent legal right to use that copy of the software" then why can't I use the software on my DVD player to play my DVD?