Re: [dvd-discuss] encryption and limited time

[Eric Seppanen <eds(at)reric.net>]

On Fri, Dec 14, 2001 at 06:20:42PM +0100, Arise wrote:
> What about the argument that congress cannot copyright protect an encrypted
> file if it does not mandate that an unencrypted file be released ones the
> copyright term expires.

It's been discussed to death before.  It's a solid argument, and only
one of many issues that demonstrates the contradictions inherent in the
DMCA.

If you're new to dvd-discuss, most of the legal issues with the DMCA's
anti-circumvention laws are covered in Robert S. Thau's excellent
"Authority of the Copyright Owner" paper available here:

http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/rst/dmca/auth/auth.html

Highly recommended for everyone on the list.


PS: Robert, you might want to look at the quoted paragraph in the "Abuse
of paracopyright" section.  The paragraph is confusingly formatted, with
line numbers spread through the text.  I think there's a <pre></pre>
missing.