Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: DeCSS decision

Author:Eric Kidd
Posted:8/18/2000; 6:36:37 PM
Topic:DeCSS decision
Msg #:19838 (In response to 19821)
Prev/Next:19837 / 19839

If that is the sole basis for your argument, I'm afraid you can pack up and leave, because the DCMA law says it's illegal to distribute or make a program whose purpose is to circumvent a legal copyright.

For better or for worse, it's not quite that simple.

Under the DMCA, it's clearly illegal to provide tools whose primary purpose is to help users infringe upon a copyright. But if a tool has "substantial and non-infringing" uses, is that tool forbidden by the DMCA?

For example, a VCR allows you to make illegal copies of tapes. But it also allows you to record television shows and watch them at a later date. So a VCR has historically been protected under the doctrine of "fair use".

Now, you could use DeCSS to help convert a DVD into a low-res QuickTime movie and pirate it. This would, of course, be an infringing use. On the other hand, you might use DeCSS to play store-bought DVDs on your laptop. This is a "substantial and non-infringing use". (Whether or not that laptop runs Linux is completely irrelevant.)

So under the old rules, DeCSS was clearly legal. But under the new rules, nobody knows what will happen.

Cheers,
Eric

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