DRM and public benefit.

Posted Sep 23, 2006 12:50 UTC (Sat) by man_ls (guest, #15091)
In reply to: DRM is not evil, just useless. by JakeG
Parent article: Kernel developers' position on GPLv3

Hacking your PSP does not harm others; it just makes a device more useful. Sony will tell you that it causes infinite harm to poor games programmers and their families, blah blah, but it is just an inference; it could be that unlicensed distribution boosts sales, as it has happened in some sectors of the music or the computer industries.

On the other hand causing interference to others can directly harm others. There is a distinct public benefit in spectrum regulation, even if it can be abused for private gains. Likewise with weapon regulations. Comparing these things with DRM is fallacious and irresponsible, and a bit sad too.

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DRM and public benefit.

Posted Sep 23, 2006 18:32 UTC (Sat) by sepreece (guest, #19270) [Link] (5 responses)

You are completely free to hack your PSP, if you can figure out how. That's completely separate from whether the manufacturer should be required to make it easy, tell you how, or guarantee that it will keep working if you do.

If you don't like the restrictions in the device, don't buy it.

DRM and public benefit.

Posted Sep 24, 2006 7:03 UTC (Sun) by man_ls (guest, #15091) [Link] (4 responses)

I am not free to hack it, not in USA and not in Europe.

If you don't like the restrictions in the device, don't buy it.

Thanks for your interest. Can I at least complain?

DRM and public benefit.

Posted Sep 25, 2006 9:23 UTC (Mon) by cate (subscriber, #1359) [Link] (1 responses)

????
Copyright law now applies also to hardwares?

You can have license to use software, but you own the hardware.
IANAL, but I think in most countries the "buy" action implies ownership of hardware. (ownership don't implies ownership of "IP" (patents). Software licenses are a special case in copyright laws, but I don't know any special case for hardware devices.

But naturally you should follow the national law, i.e. norm for electric appliances (if you plug the console), radio frequencies (if you emit o receive data) etc. And naturally the new hardware should not be a bomb, or a dangerous item (but considering the newer exploding laptops, this maybe is an outdated norm).

DRM and public benefit.

Posted Sep 25, 2006 10:18 UTC (Mon) by man_ls (guest, #15091) [Link]

Please follow the links provided. US Code, title 17, chapter 12, para 1201:

No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

And similarly (but convolutedly) in the EU law:

there is a need to provide for harmonised legal protection against circumvention of effective technological measures and against provision of devices and products or services to this effect.

So yes, copyright law applies to hardware. DRM is a "technological measure" according to both laws; if DRM is implemented in hardware, e.g. with a TPM, then you should not circumvent it by modifying the hardware.

DRM and public benefit.

Posted Sep 25, 2006 14:24 UTC (Mon) by sepreece (guest, #19270) [Link] (1 responses)

"I am not free to hack it, not in USA and not in Europe."

Sorry, I had said elsewhere that the right place to fight for a right to hack is in the legal system. I completely agree that DMCA and similar laws should not have been instituted.

However, I would also not support a law that said "Users must be able to modify all devices" or "Users must be able to update the firmware in all devices". That should be a market issue, not a legal issue.

DRM and public benefit.

Posted Sep 25, 2006 21:26 UTC (Mon) by man_ls (guest, #15091) [Link]

However, I would also not support a law that said "Users must be able to modify all devices" or "Users must be able to update the firmware in all devices". That should be a market issue, not a legal issue.

Nobody has asked for such a law. Remember that in this article we were originally talking about how GPLv3 does not allow such things as copyright protection measures. That is not a law; it is a license, and in a sense it is a market issue: if you don't like it, go somewhere else to get your code. So I guess we agree on this point.