To invoke #DMCA1201, a company must first add the thinnest skin of #DigitalRightsManagement to their product. Since 1201 makes removing #DRM illegal, a company can use this molecule-thick scrim of DRM to felonize any activity that the DRM prevents.

More than 20 years ago, technologists started to tinker with ways to combine the legal and technical to tame the wild general purpose computer.

24/

It was also an astonishingly stupid claim to make to *me*, a career activist with 20 years experience fighting #DMCA1201, a decades-old professional affiliation with @eff, and a giant megaphone:

https://boingboing.net/2019/01/11/flipping-the-bird.html

But Bird was palpably desperate to keep its bezzle going, and Kwak - an employment lawyer with undeniable deficits in her understanding of copyright and cyber-law - was their champion

34/

Like all DRM, VIN locks are covered by Section 1201 of the #DigitalMillenniumCopyrightAct (#DMCA), a 1998 law that criminalizes distributing tools to bypass "access controls," even if you do so for a lawful purpose (say, to fix your own tractor using a part you paid for). Violations of #DMCA1201 carry a penalty of 5 years in prison and a $500k fine - for a first offense.

3/

This isn't a DMCA takedown. It's a cease and desist letter citing the DMCA.*

The difference matters. GitHub is required to honor DMCA takedowns. Other legal requests are granted on a case by case basis.*

-- /u/telionn @ reddit

https://old.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/jgub36/youtubedl_just_received_a_dmca_takedown_from_riaa/g9syfde/

As I understand, takedown is a 17 USC 512 (copyright infringement) safe-harbour, but not a required or indemnifying protection under 17 USC 1201, anti-circumvention:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201

Lumen (Chilling Effects) is silent on this point in their FAQ: https://lumendatabase.org/topics/14

@micahflee

#dmca #dmca512 #dmca1201 #dmcaSafeHarbor #dmcaAntiCircumvention

One of the world's smartest hardware hackers is fighting a bad law with good technology (#NeTV2) -- and the @EFF. You can help. #DMCA1201 makes it a crime to tinker with the things you bought and paid for. #ThisIsAmerica https://t.co/Mh74of8bOW