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List:       dmca-discuss
Subject:    [DMCA_Discuss] Feds grant DMCA exceptions
From:       Vladimir Katalov <vkatalov () elcomsoft ! com>
Date:       2003-10-29 7:38:58
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Feds grant DMCA exceptions
Last modified: October 28, 2003, 6:16 PM PST
By John Borland 
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5098639.html

The U.S. Library of Congress created on Tuesday four narrow exemptions
to a controversial digital-piracy statute but was criticized by
free-speech activists, who had hoped for more exceptions.

As part of a regular process of reviewing the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, regulators created four new instances in which it is
legal to crack digital copyright protections. Such protections can now
be broken to access

• Lists of sites blocked by commercial Internet filtering software,
  but not spam-fighting lists
• Computer programs protected by hardware dongles that are broken or
  obsolete
• Computer programs or video games that use obsolete formats or
  hardware
• E-books that prevent read-aloud or other handicapped access formats
  from functioning

Some DMCA critics had asked for far more sweeping exemptions, such as
the ability to break through copy or usage restrictions on DVDs and
CDs in order to use the content in different devices and mediums.

"It's disappointing that the U.S. Copyright Office and the Librarian
(of Congress) continue to relinquish their power to protect the rights
of American consumers to lawfully use their own property," said Robin
Gross, executive director of IP Justice, a digital rights activist
group.

In a statement accompanying the ruling, Librarian of Congress James
Billington said he did not have the power to go as far as critics
wanted and many of the most expansive proposals for exemptions had
been put forward by people who misunderstood the law.

Some participants "sought exemptions that would permit them to
circumvent access controls on all works when they are engaging in
particular noninfringing uses of those works," Billington wrote in his
statement. "The law does not give me that power."

The exemptions will be in effect for three years, after which time
regulators will examine the law again.

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