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Old 02-09-2013, 04:49 PM   #98
jasontaylor7
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Thank you for that Katsunami. I'm amazed. That's nice. Very interesting. It seems you might be allowed to have done what you did. But I've become a skeptic about freedoms, and there is no end to the horror stories of people going to jail for, e.g., crossing the street. Regarding the ownership of decryption software in your country, four things.

1. This site implies, after google translation ("Software is expressly excluded from the right to a private copy . Who buys a program, there may be a copy (backup) of it. Download software may not, unless of course comes to shareware, freeware, open source or other software that is offered by the author himself. Distributing software may only if the license of the software allows." ) that it is still illegal to possess css decryption software.

2. None of your law matters if the book or dvd was sold in the usa. To be sure, I'm ignorant of international law, but the reason is that your country has extradition treaties involving the whole world. Copying an American dvd and even 1 little book in your country doesn't seem to fully remove you from American law and crimes. IMO it depends on where the publisher or ip owner is based. For a hollywood's css, it would probably be the LA, california, usa. Realistically, we can agree the chance is low, but you could have charges against you for having software that decrypts css in your country. OTOH, from what I've heard, extradition seems far more common than most people realize. (O'Dwyer may be the exception to the rule.) Don't hold your breath; it can take a decade to know if you will be extradited.

3. Does CSS DVD encryption really have nothing to do with eBooks? Guess again. They are related to the issue of "improving" an eBook you own, since, the motivation for breaking encryption is usually to do stuff with it, like improve it, or get it onto your portable video device. Nowadays, most eBooks are similarly encrypted, but using methods like Amazon's ADEPT system. Same issues; DRM is a double-edged sword. And the main difference between copyright and DRM is the ease of enforcement. I myself like one unpopular method of consuming eBooks, but am unable to realize it, as I can't legally "improve" many DRMed eBooks because of these restrictions imposed by certain publishers (namely, Amazon).

4. All these international laws might seem crazy. That case is easy to make. I'm not saying I'm for or against them. But, if it weren't for them, there'd probably be a lot of more issues with imports/exports of ip-based (intellectual property-based) goods, the engine of the post-computer economy, as it would become a way to bypass giving $$ to content creators. And though we can't change them, we should at least be aware of their existence, as you can't predict how far a publisher or bookseller might go to improve profits or, in the case of companies like Borders or Barnes & Noble, avoid bankruptcy. Lastly, the case law regarding eBooks is far too young for anyone to really know what's legal and what's not. You won't know for sure about anything you do with eBooks until your verdict is actually uttered.

Jason

Last edited by jasontaylor7; 02-09-2013 at 06:30 PM.
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