DMCA created DRM nightmare

[Specmon]

From the Cato Institute:

Circumventing Competition: The Perverse Consequences of the Digital Millennium Copyright Actby Timothy B. LeeTimothy B. Lee is a policy analyst at the Show-Me Institute in St. Louis. He holds a degree in computer science from the University of Minnesota and is the science and technology editor of the online magazine Brainwash and a contributor to the Technology Liberation Front website.Executive SummaryThe courts have a proven track record of fashioning balanced remedies for the copyright challenges created by new technologies. But when Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998, it cut the courts out of this role and instead banned any devices that "circumvent" digital rights management (DRM) technologies, which control access to copyrighted content.The result has been a legal regime that reduces options and competition in how consumers enjoy media and entertainment. Today, the copyright industry is exerting increasing control over playback devices, cable media offerings, and even Internet streaming. Some firms have used the DMCA to thwart competition by preventing research and reverse engineering. Others have brought the weight of criminal sanctions to bear against critics, competitors, and researchers.The DMCA is anti-competitive. It gives copyright holders—and the technology companies that distribute their content—the legal power to create closed technology platforms and exclude competitors from interoperating with them. Worst of all, DRM technologies are clumsy and ineffective; they inconvenience legitimate users but do little to stop pirates.Fortunately, repeal of the DMCA would not lead to intellectual property anarchy. Prior to the DMCA's enactment, the courts had already been developing a body of law that strikes a sensible balance between innovation and the protection of intellectual property. That body of law protected competition, consumer choice, and the important principle of fair use without sacrificing the rights of copyright holders. And because it focused on the actions of people rather than on the design of technologies, it gave the courts the flexibility they needed to adapt to rapid technological change.

Here's the whole article (28 page pdf)I notice that the EFF is promoting support for a Congressional effort to modify the DCMA law that is now in Committee

[ebrke]

Good link, specmon, thanks. I don't have any great hopes, but maybe just maybe something may start to change because of this. However, given that our congresspeople seem to have been bought and paid for by lobbyists/big business and are also largely technologically challenged, I'm not going to get too excited yet.

[epp_b]

Good link, specmon, thanks. I don't have any great hopes, but maybe just maybe something may start to change because of this. However, given that our congresspeople seem to have been bought and paid for by lobbyists/big business and are also largely technologically challenged, I'm not going to get too excited yet.

Ooh! Shucks, I fell asleep...what did those guys go for on eBay again?Actually, just go out and buy your local congressman an iPod and a SonyBMG XCP CD. That'll learn 'em. Edited March 24, 2006 by epp_b