Is DMCA Anti-Competitive?
The goal of the DMCA’s anticircumvention clauses is to protect copyright owners’ ability to electronically protect their content. Despite the plain language of the statute, however, the courts’ and owners’ early interpretation of Section 1201 suggest the law has a much broader sweep, one that tilts the copyright balance away from traditionally defined free speech and fair use principles, and toward an environment in which copyright owners control their work exclusively and preemptively. Scientific researchers’ concern over the possibility of being sued is one example of how this tilt manifests itself. “We provided [the district court in Felten] six inches worth of declarations from professors all over the world that said that this law frightens them,” said Cohn, the EFF legal director. “Scientific conferences are being moved overseas because of this law.” The paper Felten was prepared to present at the fourth annual Information Hiding Workshop in Pittsburgh contained no instructions on
Related Questions
- I heard that the AAC format includes DRM features for copyright protection. Does this mean that the songs I will encode in AAC format will be limited in distribution and/or playback?
- Didn the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) criminalize the study of these kinds of technologies in the United States?
- Is DMCA Anti-Competitive?
