The judge's ruling made much of the instantaneous access provided by a link: just point and click, and you're there. Providing a link is thus in some sense a participatory enabling action on the part of the publisher, not just a posting of information.
In contrast, a published URL not actively linked is simply dead text information. Using it requires a copy-and-paste, which takes a little longer. But the judge in no way implied that he would enjoin publishing URLs. He knows that he cannot forbid such publication under the first amendment, DMCA or no.
Indeed, he seems to know that the motion picture industry and the congress are fighting a lost cause. As he notes on page 64 of his ruling, "Given the virtually instantaneous and worldwide dissemination widely available via the Internet, the only rational assumption is that once a computer program capable bypassing such an access control system is disseminated, it will be used."
Bye-bye, copyright.
Slashdot Mirror
The judge's ruling made much of the instantaneous access provided by a link: just point and click, and you're there. Providing a link is thus in some sense a participatory enabling action on the part of the publisher, not just a posting of information. In contrast, a published URL not actively linked is simply dead text information. Using it requires a copy-and-paste, which takes a little longer. But the judge in no way implied that he would enjoin publishing URLs. He knows that he cannot forbid such publication under the first amendment, DMCA or no. Indeed, he seems to know that the motion picture industry and the congress are fighting a lost cause. As he notes on page 64 of his ruling, "Given the virtually instantaneous and worldwide dissemination widely available via the Internet, the only rational assumption is that once a computer program capable bypassing such an access control system is disseminated, it will be used." Bye-bye, copyright.