Re: DeCSS Court Hearing Report (fwd)

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

Jim Choate wrote:

>No, it's actualy exactly the opposite. It will become illegal to develop, 
>market, or sell technology for the explicit purpose of violating such rights
>protection technologies.

There was much controversy over the early version of the DMCA 
which prohibited reverse engineering. But after protests from
researchers the final law enacted does allow reverse engineering 
for certain types of research.

This is not to say that the law does not provide pretty strong protection
for IP, and in this sense Jim's emphasis on these provisions is
correct. That was the some-for-you-some-for-them deal that was 
struck between the two positions, and, thanks to that Solomonic 
rigging there will be work for joke-loving attorneys and Xeroxers 
and Fedexers and arm candiers and, let us be very frank here,
snarling Jims who peddle price-inflated, code-bloated, heavily 
copyrighted brain-crippled products to all these and us idiots.

Snarl. Drool. Naught, naught, who's there.