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DMCA Means You Can't Delete Files On Your PC?
DragonHawk writes "According to Wired, John Stottlemire found a way to print duplicate coupons from Coupons.com by deleting some files and registry entires on his PC. Now he's being sued for a DMCA violation. He says, 'All I did was erase files or registry keys.' Says a lawyer: '[The DMCA] may cover this. I think it does give companies a lot of leverage and a lot of power.' So now the copyright cartels are saying that not only can we not copy things on our computers, but we can't delete things on our computers? Time to buy stock in Seagate."
Isn't there some fraud possibility? If the coupons have a limit (2 per person) that you agree to by checking a box or whatever?
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It isn't against the DCMA simply to delete something. Had he only deleted registry entries, no one would know or care.
However, this was merely one step in copying coupons and intentionally violating the terms of the site. I'm not sure the DCMA applies to coupons, and the DCMA can be over-reaching, but I don't really have much sympathy for this guy. If you're trying to make a case against the DCMA, this seems like a poor example to choose. Surely there are better ones?
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
I hope they don't sue me for telling you all that you could Install Sandboxie (or a similar Sandbox program), install the software, print your coupons, rinse, repeat. Oh, Sandboxing programs is against DMCA? Do I not have rights over my PC anymore?
Seriously, governments/lawyers/whomever should be shot for pushing through such retarded laws. Society is crumbling as we introduce counter-productive legislation that destroys peoples rights to their property.
Cheers, Chris
It doesn't cover fiction either.
:)
Write all instructions as part of fictional stories, never describe anything as a how-to, and where appropriate, tell people the details of a process but not in a manner encouraging them to do it.
One may buy all sorts of books on murder, both fiction and non-fiction. They are not considered tutorials.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
If you're trying to make a case against the DCMA, this seems like a poor example to choose. Surely there are better ones?
No, this is an excellent case to show why the DMCA is flawed. It rewards companies for using pathetic security measures. The policy rationale for the DMCA is that content providers will be unwilling to create or sell digital stuff without some type of legal protection because digital technology allows for such easy reproduction. Therefore, to create an incentive, the law allows creators who make some effective attempt to protect their works to have an additional right to sue for such violations. That's the same basic incentive behind most IP laws.
However, the courts have interpreted "effective" to mean that if creators take minimal attempts to protect their work, they get added legal protections. The bar has been set so low that there is no incentive for producers to engage in real, effective self-help measures. Certainly, a cat and mouse game exists between people who want to steal and content providers. But if the law creates a disincentive for companies to do help themselves, then the law harms both content providers and consumers.
A simple registry entry is NOT an effective copy protection measure, and the iron hand of justice should let the company suffer the consequences of doing near nothing to protect themselves.
It's comments like yours that make me realize that there is no hope for freedom in America.
I used to have hope, but lately I've realized that a vast majority of Americans don't care about freedom at all. Not for themselves, and not for the workers in the Chinese factories that make their toys.
Freedom is dead. Thank you for the sad reminder.
I use vmware to boot windows maybe once or twice a year and never allow it to modify the image i have on disk... What about booting that, installing the software and then rebooting and going back to the orig image and installing the software again?... then i have not modified anything, just installed the software twice on the same OS.
What is the legality of Virtual machines, each VM instance can print coupons without deleting keys or files, then the entire VM instance can be wiped or reloaded. Is it going to be illegal to own VM software as it will be a DMCA circumvention tool now?
Yes, why the hell not? They're stupid, immoral laws which punish something other than behavior. Cop-fucks use them as a proxy for what they're not, just to have a hammer to smash the citizen when they can't find anything real to charge them with.
True story -- a few weeks back, I was at a beach picnic. Someone gave me a beer, which I consumed over the course of an hour. My car was parked quite far away and it took another half hour to walk to it. (It took me a long time to find the picnic, as I had bad directions and had parked in the wrong place, then had to look for the event.)
Anyway, I finished the beer just after leaving the picnic and stuck the can in my pocket intending to toss it, but there were no garbage containers on my way to the car. So I got into the car and idly tossed the can on the floor.
Ten minutes later, I thought of the can and pulled over to put it in the bed of my truck. (I don't litter.)
So what would have happened if some cunt of a cop had stopped me during the ten minutes? It's not unlikely as they can always pull some bullshit charge they don't have to prove (like "weaving in traffic"). Since my truck is something of a junker, it's not unlikely I'd be picked on to fill a quota.There I am, with maybe 0.01% when the limit starts 0.07%, yet the cocksucking bitch could nail my ass for an empty container in the cab when I was PROVABLY NOT DUI.
Fuck that shit to hell -- punish behavior, not horseshit "ancillary signs". Just more fucking overreaching on the part of fuck-ignorant lawmaker sucks who want to be seen as "doing something". Remember, the phrase "zero tolerance" is the true, incontrovertible sign of the morally impotent.
Who says a coupon is not copyrightable? Is that a guess on your part, or do you know of law? Because unless there's specific legislation or rulings that coupons are not copyrightable (which would not surprise me), I don;t see why they wouldn't be.
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You're really going to use open container laws and speed limits as examples of why "the State" is just trying to find things to enforce? I bet you really hate mandatory seat belt laws too.
Yes. Not using the seatbelt only endangers myself. As an adult, I insist on deciding for myself what risks I take.
Unfortunately, many politicians seem to think otherwise. I disagree with that and the result is that I'm not voting for the big parties anymore (SPD and CDU in Germany, increasingly similar to US Democrats and Republicans). There are others that have at least a bit of respect for freedom left.
Open container laws are a public safety matter. You don't want drivers to be drinking in the car and the same goes for their passengers. (emphasis mine).
I call bullshit on the passenger part. While impaired driving skills from alcohol are a problem in the driver, they are completely irrelevant for the passengers.
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