Quote:
Originally Posted by KenJackson
Wait! Wait! Wait!
Yes, it says what it says, but you're not saying all it says.
I see this has gone back and forth a few times, so I hope I'm not getting to the horse beating stage, but I just took a closer look at the page you so helpfully referenced (Sec. 1201):
It's written in stinking legalese, but it includes exceptions! One of the itemized considerations in section (C) is, " (v) such other factors as the Librarian considers appropriate."
IANAL and we all know lawyers write laws to make them incomprehensible to the masses, but this stinking thing looks like it's riddled with loopholes. If the enforcer is evil, then sure, he can say you broke this tyrannical, corrupt law by enabling yourself to read a book you bought.
But I believe a very strong case will be made at some point that if you bought a book (or someone bought it as a gift in the OP's case) and the DRM adversely affects you and you strip the DRM so you can make noninfringing uses (i.e. so you can read it), then you did not break this law.
And I expect they will use the very words of the DMCA to make the case. 
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The key words are "under this title," which is the
entirety of the copyright law.
The bottom line is, if you decrypt an encrypted copyrighted work, you are breaking the law. There already have been infringement cases where the defendants either lost, or settled.
I'm not disagreeing with the stance of many, if not most here, but, to me, the law is very clear. I know how to read the law, as convoluted as it is. You would have to prove (and define) how you were "adversely effected." You could argue then- and I'm pulling this out of my hat- "I stripped the DRM because I don't have electricity, couldn't charge my e-reader, so I sideloaded it into my laptop, which was fully charged, so I could read the DRM protected book there." It's not going to fly. The DMCA has been around for awhile, challenged numerous times- has anyone read any headlines where someone has prevailed? Sure, you, I, the Librarian, can do what we wish- as long as we don't decrypt an encrypted work.
To go into where you can actually strip the DRM legally would only muddy the waters for the sake of this discussion.