Quote:
Originally Posted by Harmon
Actually, in the US that's questionable for at least two reasons.
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Here's a third reason. The DMCA says (17 USC 1201(a)(1)(B) that the anti-circumvention prohibitions do not apply "to persons who are users of a copyrighted work which is in a particular class of works, if such persons are, or are likely to be in the succeeding 3-year period, adversely affected by virtue of such prohibition in their ability to make noninfringing uses of that particular class of works under this title". Though, to my knowledge, this provision has not been well tested in court, I think you could argue that circumventing DRM which, because of an action by the publisher, bars you from reading an e-book you purchased, would render you "adversely affected" in your "ability to make noninfringing uses of that particular class of works."
However, until courts start seeing litigation about these issues, about the best that we can say about the DMCA is "this is what it says, and who knows what it means."
Tammy (disclaimer: I am a paralegal, but not an attorney)