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Feds Say Hacking DRM To Fix Your Electronics Is Legal (vice.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: The Librarian of Congress and U.S. Copyright Office just proposed new rules that will give consumers and independent repair experts wide latitude to legally hack embedded software on their devices in order to repair or maintain them. This exemption to copyright law will apply to smartphones, tractors, cars, smart home appliances, and many other devices. The move is a landmark win for the "right to repair" movement; essentially, the federal government has ruled that consumers and repair professionals have the right to legally hack the firmware of "lawfully acquired" devices for the "maintenance" and "repair" of that device. Previously, it was legal to hack tractor firmware for the purposes of repair; it is now legal to hack many consumer electronics.
Specifically, it allows breaking digital rights management (DRM) and embedded software locks for "the maintenance of a device or system in order to make it work in accordance with its original specifications" or for "the repair of a device or system to a state of working in accordance with its original specifications." New copyright rules are released once every three years by the U.S. Copyright Office and are officially put into place by the Librarian of Congress. These are considered "exemptions" to section 1201 of U.S. copyright law, and makes DRM circumvention legal in certain specific cases. The new repair exemption is broad, applies to a wide variety of devices (an exemption in 2015 applied only to tractors and farm equipment, for example), and makes clear that the federal government believes you should be legally allowed to fix the things you own.
Specifically, it allows breaking digital rights management (DRM) and embedded software locks for "the maintenance of a device or system in order to make it work in accordance with its original specifications" or for "the repair of a device or system to a state of working in accordance with its original specifications." New copyright rules are released once every three years by the U.S. Copyright Office and are officially put into place by the Librarian of Congress. These are considered "exemptions" to section 1201 of U.S. copyright law, and makes DRM circumvention legal in certain specific cases. The new repair exemption is broad, applies to a wide variety of devices (an exemption in 2015 applied only to tractors and farm equipment, for example), and makes clear that the federal government believes you should be legally allowed to fix the things you own.
Notice the phrase "original specifications".
Thanks, Obama
to make it work in accordance with its original specifications.
And thus the next lawsuit will center on what exactly the original specifications are, with the industry in question claiming the unbroken DRM is part of it.
Since the whole debacle there supposedly started over removal of the third party OS option, which was an original feature they took away. Wouldn't this technically allow anything to be cracked if an "update" removed any functionality? I like it, just seems like this is HUGE.
Wasn't there an article about right to repair laws in California that passed recently but were pretty pathetic and written in favor of manufacturers? Is that whole issue moot now?
I would think that DRM is only part of the equation - if you "hack" the firmware, isn't there a good chance you'll be illegally using somebody's patent somewhere (especially if you are a third party, ie repair company).
You may think this will work in your favour comin' but I think you gotta watch yourself goin'.
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... you can bet companies will still fight tooth and nail to get around this shit. Just like now game companies can take advantage of mass public ignorance and high speed internet to legally reclassify all new games as "services". Just as with the new Assasins creed because they control the software from the point of production and their customers are 100's of miles away.
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does this apply to manuals and repair tools as well?
As apple can say that some repair (MANUALS / schematics) are DRM locked.
also with cars / tractors same with the software that you need to run on a different system.
also the original specifications makes it so they can SAY repair parts / tools / manuals are DEALER ONLY! or even the device in the first place is DEALER ONLY repair.
blocking/circumventing blu ray key revocation lists so that older discs will once again play?
Playing the media you purchased sure sounds like restoring a device to its intended function...
While they're at it, maybe they can require vendors to provide keys/unlocked boot loaders for all devices at time of EOL/abandonment. Would make lots of phones and other electronics have a much longer useful life.
Most of my DVDs and Blu-Ray discs are broken - whenever I play them, they insist on running 6-10 minutes of unskippable commercials before I can watch the main feature! I guess this means I can legitimately rip them to fix the Macromedia (or whatever it's called now) infection.
#DeleteChrome
Does this allow someone to actually distribute a tool to enable breaking DRM for these purposes? Because it's all very well that you can break DRM, but it's totally toothless if each individual must do so themselves, as very few actually have the skills at time to do so.
When and how did the library of congress get the responsibility for interpreting copy right laws?
Is that something in the DMCA?
âoeTolerance applies only to persons, but never to truth. Intolerance applies only to truth, but never to persons.
lots of games don't work anymore because of DRM. Especially multiplayer games.
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Computer programs that are contained in and control the functioning of a
lawfully acquired smartphone or home appliance or home system, such as
a refrigerator, thermostat, HVAC or electrical system, when
circumvention is a necessary step to allow the diagnosis, maintenance or
repair of such a device or system, and is not accomplished for the purpose
of gaining access to other copyrighted works.
Securom/Denuvo is contained in and controls the functioning of video games...
Ah who am I kidding.
Limiting to "original specifications" is a major loophole and could be used to block performance improvements (in both vehicles and electronics) or ability to work with new formats of content or peripherals (the latter also applies to vehicles [I'm thinking of attachments to tractors, but it applies more generally as well] as well as electronics).
Courts rule in the specific facts of individual cases, and we can only predict what the ruling might be. Having said that:
If you distribute it for that legitimate, lawful purpose, and all of your messaging (marketing etc) points to a lawful purpose, you'd probably be fine.
On the other hand, if you have a web site where you advertise "steal Hollywood movies", your internal emails talk about paying people to use the tool for unlawful purposes, you make millions of dollars from people using it unlawfully, and you get a custom license plate that says "guilty", you're probably going to have a bad time in court.
Normally, the specifications for how the software should behave wouldn't specify that it should be buggy.
A notable exception is several software products were designed to be compatible with / emulate Internet Explorer, specifically including emulating some of its more important bugs.
There may be decisions made in which the designers chose something they thought was good. You think it's bad, so you call it a bug. "Fixing" (changing) that probably wouldn't be restoring it to its original specification, though if there is a written standard such as http it could be argued that the standard is rhe specification for how an http client or server should behave.
Different part of the US gov finds that to be counterfeiting!
Won't someone think of the brand!
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
something like that also most made it to trail with a chance for some big chilling effects or may be would of been an help to right to repair.
We need a case to test if an OEM can force some one to pay an added fee just to get the rights move the old software/firmware for an device from the old storage media to different storage media.
OR is ok from them to change $$ for an recovery image / block people from shearing the files / roms / iso's / etc to other to help them fix it.
Except Apple products, right?
what an making an script that takes say rom's chd's etc and dumps them out to real hardware??
For EX say get the mame rom set + CHD for X and run this script to load your USB KEY with the usb dongle code so you can fix your device?
Just say get the roms but do not say where to get them?? Or can the law let you host files for repair use?
The new rules state "to a state of working in accordance with its original specifications" In other words, you can't hack the DRM to remove an annoying "feature" of said device.
A win for farmers who were very upset with Deere not allowing owners of their tractors to service them. Something many farmers do on a regular basis. I think anyone should have a right to use whomever to repair their products.
> mame rom set + CHD
> Just say get the roms but do not say where to get them??
"Don't say where to get them" isn't going to help you.
If you tell people to use your DRM-breaking tool to do unlawful things, you're probably breaking the law by distributing the tool for that purpose.
Re-loading factory firmware unto legitimate factory devices seems a fairly small niche. You'd need to show that it's a "substantial non-infringing use" vs the infringing use.
DRM locked goes above and beyond what copyright allows. Apple can say that no one is allowed to buy a repair manual, but they cannot forbid someone who already owns a repair manual from giving it to someone else (as long as no copy is made). The DRM is intended to prevent giving or reselling the manual to anyone else.
Original specifications does not mean the EULA. The specifications means what the product is intended to do. And in the event that companies change their specifications to have exclusions, I would suspect that the courts would weigh in on this. Of course, the companies could just rewrite the laws by buying legislators, but by that's quite a lot more than merely changing some wording on a slip of paper in the box.
the US Air Force can just bypass DMCA in full
unlawful thing unlawful to reapir outside of what OEM wants or what some 3rd party IP rights owner wants you to pay????
Why should I have to be paying $$$ again for software that I own but need to replace / reload / put in an VM due to failed hardware?
Kinda like the GNAA ones from years ago.
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That since Vlad Putin OWNS Donald Trump, he can use him as his personal fleshlight? :)
Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
or maybe make it rent = owner pay for repairs!
I'd guess not. The US tends to focus on "passive" freedom, as in you have the right to repair it but no-one has to help you do it. There are some exceptions, like cars have to have standard diagnostics systems and manuals/software must be available, but mostly it's just "they can't stop you, but can do anything they like to make it as difficult as possible".
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
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The "proposal" will never get off the ground. The corporate fix will be in and they will get to the Librarian who will mysteriously retire well above his means.
(Unless the "Librarian" is the one from the movie and series, then the corporate shills will get their comeuppance.)
Tracy Johnson
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