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Except, streaming music you own to a computer you own is legal regardless of whether or not some piece of propietary software you use has a private key that you aren't supposed to know. The key is out. Using it for anything is legal.



Uh, I'm not so sure about that. The DMCA makes circumventing a copyright protection measure illegal unless you fall into one of the very narrow exemptions.


How is this circumventing a copyright protection measure?

This is like opening the hood of a car that requires a key that the manufacturer will only give to authorized dealers. If you figure out how to open the hood, the government is not going to stop you from messing around with the stuff in your car. It's yours, after all.

Here's what's happening here. Apple wants you to buy Apple hardware, so they cripple iTunes such that it will only speak with devices that know a secret password. Now, with the secret out, it will talk to any device.

This has absolutely nothing to do with copyright infringement.


This is like opening the hood of a car that requires a key that the manufacturer will only give to authorized dealers.

Yes, that's exactly what it's like. Indeed, auto manufacturers have already been abusing the DMCA to prevent independent repair shops from accessing computer diagnostic codes.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/right-repair-law-pro (The bill mentioned in that article that would have addressed this died in committee, by the way)


Wow. That's nasty on the auto makers' part.


"(c) Other Rights, Etc., Not Affected. — (1) Nothing in this section shall affect rights, remedies, limitations, or defenses to copyright infringement, including fair use, under this title."

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap12.html#1201


IANAL, but that would not protect you from the DMCA provisions that make it a crime to distribute tools designed for breaking DRM, even if you intend such tools to be used for fair use purposes.


I mentioned that in relation to using the software, not distributing it.


You aren't familiar with the DMCA, then. It's true that §1201(a)(2) and §1201(b)(3) restrict distribution, not personal use.

§1201(a)(1) does restrict personal use. That's what makes the DMCA really insidious.




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