[HH] Copyright Office fails to protect users from DMCA

[Tom Metro]

Bad news for hardware hackers...
(This is a bit old. From last month.)
 -Tom

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Copyright Office fails to protect users from DMCA
Date: 	Fri, 26 Oct 2012 22:51:04 -0400
From: 	DefectiveByDesign.org <info at defectivebydesign.org>



*The Copyright Office picked Sony over you; fails to expand DMCA
anti-circumvention exemptions to devices other than cell phones, or to
the sharing of anti-circumvention software.*

The FSF has fought for years against the threat of Digital Restrictions
Management
<http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm_digital_restrictions_management>
(DRM). Users should have the right to modify, share and learn from the
software on their devices, and technical measures put in place in the
name of DRM offer a substantial roadblock. It's even worse when those
measures have the force of criminal law behind them, threatening people
who simply want to change the software on their computers with jail
time. The FSF wants to create a world in which there is no DRM. Until
then, at the very least, users shouldn't have to worry about legal
consequences for disabling these malfeatures on their own devices.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of course circumvents the
rights of users by making it illegal to modify your devices in ways that
would give you actual access to them, or to share tools to help others
do this. Congress did create one small carve-out from this belligerence;
that once every three years the Library of Congress (via the Copyright
Office), would consider making exceptions to this broad rule. In 2010,
the Office recommended exempting the freeing of cellphones. They did
not, however, make clear that this exemption extended to people who
distributed tools for freeing these devices. In 2012, we had hoped to
expand the exempted class of uses, and encouraged the Copyright Office
<http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/supporting-dmca-exemptions> to
extend exemptions to tablets, gaming consoles, and computers running
restricted boot. We were on the side of organizations like the EFF
<https://www.eff.org/cases/2012-dmca-rulemaking>, and the Mozilla
Foundation <http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/> as well as hundreds of
other individuals calling for the protection of those who simply want to
be able to use their own devices in freedom.

But we were not the only ones to send recommendations to the Copyright
Office. Large corporations like Sony, and corporate-backed groups like
"Joint Creators and Copyright Holders" also sent comments opposing these
reasonable exemptions. And the Copyright Office fell for their FUD. The
Copyright Office has announced
<http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2012/77fr65260.pdf> that while freeing
your phone in order to install your own software is still permitted,
unlocking the phone in order to switch carriers will be phased out. And
even that minimal remaining protection has not been extended to tablets.
Offering the duplicitous explanation that they weren't sure what a
tablet was, the office completely abdicated its responsibility to
protect users' rights to run their own software on their devices, as
well as their rights to works locked down on those tablets. They
similarly rejected exemptions for users wanting to install their own
operating system on game consoles, and even worse, failed to extend
protection to users who want to install their own operating system on
computers with restricted boot.

This means no longer being able to switch your own cell phone carrier
without permission. This means no modifying tablet operating systems
without legal threat. It means that trying to install a different
operating system on your game console could result in the FBI breaking
down your door <http://www.defectivebydesign.org/stopsony>. It means
that you cannot even be sure of your right to remove proprietary
software from devices encumbered with restricted boot.

The Copyright Office picked Sony over you. They had an opportunity to
protect users, but instead chose to protect corporate interests. This is
a terrible outcome for users everywhere, and just proves that we need
wholesale elimination of the anti-circumvention laws.

We need to band together. Here is what you can do to help:

    * Join our Boycott Sony <http://www.defectivebydesign.org/sony>
      campaign to let Sony know that this sort of behavior is not
      acceptable.
    * Sign our statement to Stop Restricted Boot
      <http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/secure-boot-vs-restricted-boot/statement>.
    * Donate <donate.fsf.org> to the Free Software Foundation to support
      our efforts to fight bad laws like the DMCA.


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