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Re: [dvd-discuss] A DMCA protected identity-theft scam
- To: dvd-discuss(at)cyber.law.harvard.edu
- Subject: Re: [dvd-discuss] A DMCA protected identity-theft scam
- From: Eric Seppanen <eds(at)reric.net>
- Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 15:25:43 -0600
- In-reply-to: <5.1.1.5.2.20021213131748.00a4b440@mail.speakeasy.net>; from schulien@speakeasy.net on Fri, Dec 13, 2002 at 01:29:54PM -0600
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On Fri, Dec 13, 2002 at 01:29:54PM -0600, John Schulien wrote:
>
> Therefore, this whole identity theft scam is fully
> DMCA-protected! Under a strict reading of the law,
> it would be a violation of 17 USC 1201(a) for me to a
> alter the decryption program in such a way as to
> display the identity-theft program (and learn what the
> identity-theft program actually did), and it would be a
> violation of 17 USC 1201(b) for anyone to reveal
> how to do it.
Great work! You should make an effort to share this example with other
interested parties. Bet a few news folks would be interested in hearing
this.
An interesting though experiment: what if the javascript encryption scheme
were a commercial product, used by both good and bad sites? Breaking the
scheme to expose the bad site could easily earn you a civil lawsuit from
the cypher author, as well as the good sites.
There's also a weak parallel between this and the fact that it's just as
illegal to break CSS to defeat region-coding as it is illegal to break CSS
to perform copyright infringement.
You've exposed the best DMCA-is-bad example yet. *applause*