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Originally Posted by Slava
DMCA? Please enlighten me?
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Digital Millenium Copyright Act. In the US it is the thing that makes it illegal to sell or create any technology that can be used to bypass copyright features. In the US it is against the law to copy a DVD you purchased to your own computer. It forces video and audio manufacturers to support Digital Rights Management. It is what Lexmark used to sue replacement inject cartridge makers, arguing the chip Lexmark added to their cartridges were Intellectual Property and replacement cartridge manufacturers were violating their copyright by adding the chip.
In general it was a knee-jerk reaction to Napster and provided copyright holders with extensive rights and powers that they had never had before. It has resulted in security analysts being jailed for revealing the results of their work, video game mod-chips being declared illegal, and a spate of companies adding technological features to products to lock out competitors.
A lot of lawyers have made a lot of money. A lot of court time has been tied up. A lot of potential innovation has been stifled. A lot of research has been shelved. And all at the expense of consumer rights, for the benefit of the entertainment industry, in the name of the DMCA.