Quote:
Originally Posted by NickC42
Incidentally, an amendment has just made it legal to circumvent DRM in limited circumstances:
(6) Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling either of the book’s read-aloud function or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format
See http://www.copyright.gov/1201/
Nick |
Interesting. Clearly intended to force publishers to enable the read aloud function in some fashion for the visually impaired. (I dunno what the specialized format thing is all about.)
What struck me as I read the whole thing is that the ultimate effect of the DMCA will be that "fair use" will come to be defined by bureaucratic regulation, for all practical purposes. Note how the exception for video snippets does not extend to incorporation in commercial videos, even though it would be "fair use" under the copyright act, if only the commercial enterprises could get around the DRM legally. Eventually, the courts will start to defer to the Librarian of Congress on such matters, and decide that "fair use" means what the Librarian allows, and nothing more. The DMCA will become so entwined in the economy of digital media that DRM will never go away.