[ad]
There seems to be have been some slight relaxation on the DMCA regulations lately, which is a good thing for the majority of people!
There have been many grey cases and sadly most have fallen on the side of the big corporations, finally something on our side!
The U.S. Copyright Office specified new rules Wednesday allowing cellphone owners to hack software designed to prevent them from using their phones on competing carriers. Retrogaming enthusiasts will also be permitted to crack copy protection on abandoned titles, albeit for “archival” purposes only.
I think it’s perfectly reasonable, if I buy a peice of hardware or whatever I should completely own it and be able to use it for whatever I want, I shouldn’t be limited by the company that sold it to me.
And Abandonware is ok!
And thankfully a thumbs up for educators too.
The rules also allow teachers to copy “snippets” from DVDs for educational compilations, and confer the right to have third-party software read copy-protected electronic books –if you’re blind.
The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) has been held to crimizalize circumvention of any kind of software protection, even in the pursuit of applications that would have previously been considered fair use. There is at least one ongoing legal action concerning recycled cell phones based on this law, according to Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. But not after today.
You can see the full list of 6 exemptions here.
Source: Wired Blog