Digital Millenium Copyright Act
A Talk by Rick Wash
CWRU ACM, Feb 26, 2002
Copyright Background
-
Theory
- Copyright is a bargain between content producers and
the public
- Laws are designed to govern the content Industry
- That is where they are enforcable
- Concept of Fair Use for consumers
- First Sale Doctrine
-
History
- 1976 Copyright Act, 1992 Home Recording Act
- Broad rights for content producers
- Narrow Exceptions for use
- Written by industry reps meeting and barganing among
themselves
- Courts protect fair use (Sony vs. Betamax)
-
Recent Changes
- Digital Technology (Computers and the Internet)
- Cheap and easy to produce new content
- Cheap and easy to distribute content
- Cheay and easy for anyone to copy illegally
- Transmission over internet counts as a "performance"
- Copying in RAM counts as "copying"
- Requires permission of copyright owner to copy
- Content Owners have turned to technological protections
- Can always be circumvented with enought effort and
expertise.
- Back up technological protection with legal
protection
DMCA
-
Prohibitions
- 1201.a.1.A
- "Thou shalt not circumvent for access"
- Applies to technological measures that "effectively
control" access
- This means that the intent is to control
access, and some action is necessary to circumvent
that control
- Every 3 years, the Librarian of Congress has to
report to Congress the effect this law has had on
content and scientific progress
- 1201.a.2
- No Trafficking in Access Tools
- 1201.b
- No Trafficking in Copying Tools
- 1202.b
- Do not remove Copyright Management Information
-
Exceptions
- 1201.a.1
- Library of Congress Exceptions
- Obsolete Technological Protection Measures
- Designed to gain access to lists of blocked
websites
- 1201.c
- This law does not affect fair use or other copyright
laws
- Doesn't remove rights, only restricts how possible
it is to exercise those rights.
- 1201.d
- Library Exemption
- Only for "determination of whether to acquire"
- Implies consumers don't have this priveledge
- 1201.e
- Law Enforcement
- 1201.f
- Reverse Engineering
- Only applies during the reverse engineering
process, not to results
- For purposes of interoperability only
- 1201.h
- Minor's Privacy
- Only when the "Sole purpose is to prevent the
access of minors to material on the internet"
- 1201.i
- Personal Data
- 1201.g
- Encryption Research
- Circumvention is permitted when:
- Copyrighted work is lawfully obtained
- Circumvention is necessary to conduct research
- "Good faith effort" to obtain authorization
- Additional Factors to consider
- Were the results disseminated in such a way to
advance the state of knowledge?
- Is the researcher engaged in a legitimate
course of study?
- Is the researcher employed, trained, or
expenienced in cryptography research?
- Did the researcher provide timely notice to
copyright owners?
- 1201.j
- Security Testing
- Similar to encryption research exemption
- Must actually obtain
authorization to circumvent for copyright owner
Fallout / Court Cases
-
Felten et al. vs. SDMI
- Broke SDMI, sued to prevent publication
- Submitted to USENIX Security 2001
- Counter-suit asking for pre-emptive ruling
- Presented work, case dropped
- DMCA attempted to be used to censor scientific research
- In the end, no ruling. Leaves open to threaten other
researchers
-
US vs. Elcomsoft
- Wrote software to circumvent Adobe Ebook copy
protection
- Russian law requires fair use, which this software
provides
- Arrested under criminal provisions of DMCA
- Not resolved yet
-
Universal vs. Corley
- 2600.com posted DeCSS code, ordered to remove
- 2600.com posted links to DeCSS code, also ordered to
remove
- Ruled source code not protected as free speech.
- Ruled linking to program is trafficking
-
Junger vs. Daley
- Controversy over teaching crypto to non-us students
(export regulations)
- Ruled that source code is free speech.
-
Others
- A & M vs. Napster
- RIAA vs. MP3.com
- RIAA vs. Diamond Multimedia
- DMCA is being used as a threat to stifle technology
growth.
Rick Wash