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DRM and DMCA
I don't remember where I started, but I was jumping from blog to blog reading about subj, and somewhere in the middle of http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/2004/06/28/prove_drm_works_eliminate_the_dmca.php it hit me that analogy of DRM being the lock and DMCA being "thou shall not steal" law is flawed.
If somebody opens the lock but don't steal anything, he could hardly be held responsible for anything because there are no damages except the lock itself (if it was damaged). The law makes illegal breaking and entering and stealing, not breaking the lock itself. Not so in case of DMCA. It makes it illegal to break the lock, publish an instruction how to break the lock, and even to tell someone where to find a tool to break the lock.
If somebody opens the lock but don't steal anything, he could hardly be held responsible for anything because there are no damages except the lock itself (if it was damaged). The law makes illegal breaking and entering and stealing, not breaking the lock itself. Not so in case of DMCA. It makes it illegal to break the lock, publish an instruction how to break the lock, and even to tell someone where to find a tool to break the lock.
panadol rather than panacea,,,
The legislative mousetraps would just trigger the creation of new ways to sneak-peek through the keyhole without breaking the lock :-)