Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
Thanks, it seemed clearer, at any rate. 
But to sum up, if something like, say ... a piece of code allowed you to read a number off of a piece of hardware, which then allowed you to read a DRMed file on that piece of hardware without removing the DRM in question, then it would probably be the first category you mentioned.
But if you could then use that number, along with some totally other piece of code to remove the DRM that would put the first piece of code (the second being clearly "of the Dark Side") in the second category, and therefore in the, as yet, untested gray area.
Do I seem to be following you? |
Yes, you are following me. If there were such a piece of code in existence, and you linked to that code, you could find yourself in category 1 and potentially category 2. The only way to really know which category you fall in would be to litigate it, which would cost time and money, and you could ultimately find out you are in category 2 and be in trouble.
I actually think it would be very hard to prove that just linking to the code that reveals the PID that doesn't itself remove the DRM would fall into anything but category 1. But I wouldn't want to find out I am wrong the hard way.
If you combined the 2 programs into 1 and it both revealed the PID and stripped the DRM I wouldn't say it was clearly on the dark side, but rather I would say you would be firmly in the gray area leaning to the dark side. Because even stripping the DRM could be justified for personal use, the problem is by stripping the DRM you also open it up for nefarious purposes.