Re: New DMCA exemptions

[ziggy <ziggy@fakedaddress.com>]

In article 
<nospam-81A48E.07092223112006@network-065-024-007-028.columbus.rr.com>,
 "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:

> The United States Code, title 17, section 1201(a)(1)^1 prohibits the 
> circumvention of technological measures that control access to 
> copyrighted works. The Copyright Office has establised several new 
> exemptions to this law that may interest the Apple II community^2.
> 
> In particular, The Librarian of Congress granted two exemptions for 
> otherwise non-infringing uses in connection with obsolescent 
> computers:
> 
> 2. Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have 
> become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a 
> condition of access, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose 
> of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by 
> a library or archive. A format shall be considered obsolete if the 
> machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that 
> format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available 
> in the commercial marketplace.
> 
> 3. Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to 
> malfunction or damage and which are obsolete. A dongle shall be 
> considered obsolete if it is no longer manufactured or if a replacement 
> or repair is no longer reasonably available in the commercial 
> marketplace.
> 
> ^1 http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap12.html#1201
> ^2 http://www.copyright.gov/1201/

Depends on what the feds consider 'reasonably accessible' and 'obsolete'.

I can still go buy a apple II without a second thought or any hassle.  
Seems pretty accessible to me :|

Obsolete? Thats even harder to define.

Dont get me wrong, im all for ditching the DMCA totally, but its still 
in effect as of today, and i dont  trust the 'good will' of the federal 
government in this matter ( or any other for that matter ).