Computer Tips -Tech Info

Tag: DMCA

  • Artists revolting against DRM

    This is under the security tab because DRM software protection has proven to be a computer security issue… Spyware Confidential is reporting on artists revolting against the Sony DRM. According to the story…

    My Morning Jacket, the artists who recorded the copy protected CD “Z” I mentioned here, are doing more than protesting Sony BMG’s use of DRM spyware. They are revolting. Yesterday I read that My Morning Jacket was doing their own recall of the affected CDs. Now I see they are burning unrestricted copies of their CD and mailing them to users. Hmm… I wonder if they are breaking the law under the DMCA.

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  • EFF gives up on DMCA exemption process

    There’s a story over at PC Pro, that says the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has given up on the process for obtaining exemptions from the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). They claim that the three year exemption period is meaningless. All of their requests for exemptions have been declined. Including requests to allow DVD purchasers to be able to play DVD’s purchased from any region, to allow CD purchasers to play copy protected discs on a PC, and to allow skipping of “unskippable” ads at the beginning of DVDs.

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  • The DMCA exemption process…

    Another entry from the “how do the good guys keep from getting their pants sued off…” files. Freedom-to-tinker has an entry on their application for a DMCA waiver. (The DMCA (among other things) makes it against the law to circumvent copy protection (or to communicate ways of circumvention)) It sounds like the exemption process is slanted towards not issuing exemptions, but they’re trying. There are some interesting notes from their application.

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  • More Sony DRM news

    It looks like a list of Sony Music titles with the recent onerous DRM “rootkit” is being gathered. The Sunbelt blog has links to several lists. The EFF has a list here, there are two others though out there, here and here.

    Among other things, another post mentions the stupid things Sony-BMG leadership has had to say on the matter…

    “Most people, I think, don’t even know what a Rootkit is, so why should they care about it?”

    and, it’s also noted the installer can be bypassed by pressing the shift key when loading the cd (to skip autorun.) (Does telling this actually violate the DMCA – spreading information on circumventing copy protection?)

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