Quote:
Originally Posted by Sgt.Stubby
DRM is not just a technological barricade. When combined with the DMCA it becomes a legal tool. DRM introduces encryption, which in turn triggers the DMCA statutes.
Note that encryption need not be strong to trigger the DMCA. There was a company that made barcode scanners that internally rearranged the order of the numbers that were fed to the software. That simple reordering was enough to call it "encryption", enabling the vendor to prosecute someone who wrote their own software.
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While I get what you're trying to say, your facts are confused. It's not "encryption" that triggers the anti-circumvention provision of the DMCA, it's ANY technological measure to control access. The definition gives both scrambling and encryption as examples. It could also be merely a piece of wire on a circuit board.
I'll remind folks also that one court decision from the 5th circuit court, one of only a few to refer to the anti-circumvention provision so far, said that merely bypassing the technology was not enough to trigger the provision. There had to copyright infringement involved as well. It's still arguable, but I believe that's the proper interpretation.
BTW, are you referring to the CueCat barcode scanner? I thought that was pre-DMCA, but I'm not sure.
ApK