Re: Affecting Institutional Change (Yeah Right)
John Hasler <jhasler@debian.org> wrote:
> TITLE 17 CHAPTER 12 § 1201
> § 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems
> (f) Reverse Engineering.
> (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(1)(A), a person who
> has lawfully obtained the right to use a copy of a computer program may
> circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to
> a particular portion of that program for the sole purpose of
> identifying and analyzing those elements of the program that are
> necessary to achieve interoperability of an independently created
> computer program with other programs, and that have not previously been
> readily available to the person engaging in the circumvention, to the
> extent any such acts of identification and analysis do not constitute
> infringement under this title.
> (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a)(2) and (b), a person
> may develop and employ technological means to circumvent a
> technological measure, or to circumvent protection afforded by a
> technological measure, in order to enable the identification and
> analysis under paragraph (1), or for the purpose of enabling
> interoperability of an independently created computer program with
> other programs, if such means are necessary to achieve such
> interoperability, to the extent that doing so does not constitute
> infringement under this title.
> (3) The information acquired through the acts permitted under paragraph
> (1), and the means permitted under paragraph (2), may be made available
> to others if the person referred to in paragraph (1) or (2), as the
> case may be, provides such information or means solely for the purpose
> of enabling interoperability of an independently created computer
> program with other programs, and to the extent that doing so does not
> constitute infringement under this title or violate applicable law
> other than this section.
> (4) For purposes of this subsection, the term interoperability means the
> ability of computer programs to exchange information, and of such
> programs mutually to use the information which has been exchanged.
> There are aso exemptions for nonprofit libraries, archives, educational
> institutions, law enforcement, and encryption research.
Well, sweet! So the impression I'm getting is that reverse
engineering is basically protected by law? So that means that I
could use decoder programs without fearing that they may become
illegal??? I really should double-check the sources when I read
things. Too trusting.
Amy
--
All phone calls are obscene.
-- Karen Elizabeth Gordon
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