Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA
"Since they were enacted in 1998, the "anti-circumvention" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), codified in section 1201 of the Copyright Act, have not been used as Congress envisioned. Congress meant to stop copyright infringers from defeating anti-piracy protections added to copyrighted works and to ban the "black box" devices intended for that purpose. 1
In practice, the anti-circumvention provisions have been used to stifle a wide array of legitimate activities, rather than to stop copyright infringement. As a result, the DMCA has developed into a serious threat to several important public policy priorities:"
* DMCA Legislative Background
* Chilling Free Expression and Scientific Research
* Fair Use Under Siege
* A threat to innovation and competition
* DMCA Shoulders Aside Computer Intrusion Statutes
* Conclusion
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/?f=unintended_consequences.html
"Since they were enacted in 1998, the "anti-circumvention" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), codified in section 1201 of the Copyright Act, have not been used as Congress envisioned. Congress meant to stop copyright infringers from defeating anti-piracy protections added to copyrighted works and to ban the "black box" devices intended for that purpose. 1
In practice, the anti-circumvention provisions have been used to stifle a wide array of legitimate activities, rather than to stop copyright infringement. As a result, the DMCA has developed into a serious threat to several important public policy priorities:"
* DMCA Legislative Background
* Chilling Free Expression and Scientific Research
* Fair Use Under Siege
* A threat to innovation and competition
* DMCA Shoulders Aside Computer Intrusion Statutes
* Conclusion
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/?f=unintended_consequences.html
