Cell Phone Owners Allowed To Break Software Locks

An anonymous reader writes "The library of congress approved many copyright exemptions today. Among the exemptions were new rules about cell phones, DVDs, and electronic books." From the article: "Cell phone owners will be allowed to break software locks on their handsets in order to use them with competing carriers under new copyright rules announced Wednesday. Other copyright exemptions approved by the Library of Congress will let film professors copy snippets from DVDs for educational compilations and let blind people use special software to read copy-protected electronic books. All told, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington approved six exemptions, the most his Copyright Office has ever granted. For the first time, the office exempted groups of users. The new rules will take effect Monday and expire in three years. In granting the exemption for cell phone users, the Copyright Office determined that consumers aren't able to enjoy full legal use of their handsets because of software locks that wireless providers have been placing to control access to phones' underlying programs."

Comments

How about not treating me like a criminal in the

[Anonymous Coward]

first place and reversing the DMCA? Especially with crap that I buy and should be used in a manner I see fit short of mass distributing it to other anonymous people.

These exemptions are nice and all, and I know the Library of Congress does not have the authority to do more (only Congress itself or the SoC can repeal the DMCA) - but I feel I'm got punched in the face and the LoC is passing by and helpfully giving me a tooth back. What about all the other missing teeth?

This sets a bad precedent

[Anonymous Coward]

Namely, the precedent of whitelisting the allowed activity in terms of excercising the fair-use rights.

Technicalities

[moatra]

In a purely technical point of view, what's the difference between being allowed to break the lock on your cell phone to enjoy its use to the fullest extent, and say, breaking the lock on your music to use it to its fullest extent? After all, you still paid for both.

Oh, you're being granted "use" back again.

[Anonymous Coward]

From TFA:

  "Other copyright exemptions approved by the Library of Congress will let film professors copy snippets from DVDs for educational compilations"

In my day, we called this "fair use", and were allowed to do this as an exemption from general copyright rules.

From TFA:
"let blind people use special software to read copy-protected electronic books."

In my day, we called this "use". It's why we buy the item in the first place - in order to use it. Not in order to sign a scarecrow EULA once the box is open.

Well done America - granting temporary rights to people that they should already have.