Quote:
Originally Posted by JLYates
If it is "illegal" to remove DRM, then why is it legal to sell software that helps it to be removed?
I was searching for info about DRM and the stripping of it and found a site that offers, for $25, a software that will strip the DRM. I would think that if it was illegal, then they could not sell the software. Of course, it is legal to sell items that make guns more dangerous but not legal to use them, but still it seems kinda stupid to say you can't do it but here is the tools you need to do it.
I'm sorry, but when I buy a book that is DRM'd, and I can't read it because somene put a lock on it, then I see it as stealing from me!
I don't see it as any different than if I went to a car dealership and pay cash for a car. I am given the title and make arrangement to pick it up the next day. When I arrive to get my car I find out they have changed the lock and I can't get in and drive my car home. They refuse to give me the keys to unlock it but yet tell me the car is mine!
Who is stealing from whom ?
It seems we are in the same postion that readers were years ago when it was taken to court to determine if it was legal to sell used books. The publishers argued that it shouldn't be allowed. The court disagree and it became legal to sell books to a used book store and they could then resell it.
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Hi- I find it ironic that there's an ad right below your post selling software to remove DRM.
In any case, according to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, it is illegal to break the protection on a copyrighted work, like DVDs, and now digital books. That's the simple answer. If these e-books didn't have digital protection, they could be freely traded, and publishers and author's would be losing money for their work. Many of these software companies are off shore, from what I understand. Not being preachy about it, but it is what it is.