US/DMCA Copyright Law changes - jailbreaking, vidders, unlockers

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Barry_Green

Moderator
Press release from the "Electronic Frontier Foundation", regarding some exemptions to US Copyright Law that have just been established.

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/07/26

In short, it removes any stigma about "jailbreaking" phones to allow other apps to run on them (so, you can now set up an alternative store to the iTunes store, if you wanted to sell an app that Apple won't allow in their store, for example).

Second, it extends the exemption for unlocking cell phones so you can use them on other carriers.

Third, it extends "fair use" provision to youtube "vidders" who rip portions of DVDs for noncommercial purposes of criticism or comment.
 
Something seriously wrong in Washington. Apparently, someone with a brain snuck in when no one was looking.
 
Finally. Saying you can't jailbreak your own phone or mp3 player is like saying it's illegal to open the hood of your car and mod it.
 
I suspect that very shortly we're going to learn just how upset he is, over the new jailbreaking regs...
 
I'm glad for this.

These tying arrangements are a restraint of trade in my view.

If I buy a smart phone, it's mine, not Apple's or ATT's.

Especially if I purchase it at full price.
 
Meh. Whatever. This will get litigated and appealed and lobbied. Your celebrations will be short-lived. The same old power lobby will pressure the usual suspects and this will go right back to the insanity that it's been these past few years - again, leaving ordinary consumers no choice but to become lawbreakers. Remember when fair use was recognized as a necessary counterbalance to assure consumers that their rights were not stripped away? And remember what happened to fair use recently and how it's been circumscribed and ignored? Same will happen here. This is a highly temporary victory for common sense.The lobbyists will do their thing and congress will pass new laws soon enough to gut any remaining consumer rights. They'll keep doing that right until the whole system breaks down, leaving everyone, including content creators, worse off.
 
The cool thing about the change in the Copyright Law is that it didn't come from the usual suspects in Congress.
It came from the Library of Congress, the keeper of the Copyright Office, and an amazing institution of American Democracy.
 
Jawa Ex Machina said:
Just how commercial can you get on YouTube? It's not like you're getting payed for every viewing.
Click to expand...

Quite a few people actually are (though I believe you have to agree to the terms which state you have the rights to everything you upload).
Besides direct payment though, there are people using things for promotion (which leads to commerical ends).
 
groveChuck said:
The cool thing about the change in the Copyright Law is that it didn't come from the usual suspects in Congress.
It came from the Library of Congress, the keeper of the Copyright Office, and an amazing institution of American Democracy.
Click to expand...

There's something odd about describing an end-run around the duly elected legislature as a benefit of 'an amazing institution of American democracy.'

Unless you were kidding. Sometimes it's hard to tell.
 
Sad Max said:
There's something odd about describing an end-run around the duly elected legislature as a benefit of 'an amazing institution of American democracy.'

Unless you were kidding. Sometimes it's hard to tell.
Click to expand...

Except that the the duly elected legislature granted the library of congress this power through the copyright law. So there is no "end-run around them."
 
This is indeed a victory, and a good step in the right direction, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. The DMCA needs to be repealed entirely.
 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20014356-37.html

The application also describes a variety of measures that could be used to help identify the unauthorized user, including the activation of a camera that could capture and geotag the device's surroundings, and perhaps current user, and transmit that information to a remote device:

In some embodiments, an unauthorized user can be detected by comparing the identity of the current user to the identities of authorized users of the electronic device. For example, a photograph of the current user can be taken, a recording of the current user's voice can be recorded, the heartbeat of the current user can be recorded, or any combination of the above. The photograph, recording, or heartbeat can be compared, respectively, to a photograph, recording, or heartbeat of authorized users of the electronic device to determine whether they match. If they do not match, the current user can be detected as an unauthorized user. ​
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20014356-37.html#ixzz0yKodnsmd​
 
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