Re: TrueType/OpenType and anti-circumvention laws
* Walter Landry:
> Paul Wise <pabs@debian.org> writes:
>> On Fri, 2024-02-02 at 20:16 -0500, P. J. McDermott wrote:
>>> Ping? Any thoughts on whether a font DRM modification tool would be
>>> legal to distribute and use in Debian given that the DRM is a simple bit
>>> field rather than an "effective" TPM such as scrambling or encryption?
>>
>> Probably best to consult a lawyer there, but ISTR even trivial things
>> are supposed to count under the DMCA.
>
> This feels similar to pdf viewers that do not honor DRM bits like 'do
> not print', which Debian distributes. Here is an old email exchange.
>
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/03/msg00308.html
>
> and a bug ticket that implemented DRM stripping.
>
> https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=298584
There's also SCMS, which is technically similar (just two bits).
Reputable vendors sell devices which manipulate these bits. For
example, the Behringer Ultramatch Pro SRC2496 manual says, “Allows
direct manipulation of emphasis and copy-protection bits” (although
they also say that, “We want to point out that the copyright of third
parties must not be infringed—despite the possibility of removing the
copy protect bit with the help of the ULTRAMATCH PRO! This device was
not developed to produce unauthorized copies”).
This is more similar to the ttfpatch case because it allows other
devices to operate in a way contrary to their design.
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