[game_preservation] More good news re: DMCA

[Martin Goldberg]

My thoughts with the dongle one right away is it creates a grey area
for older consoles (8 and 16-bit) that used a similar hardware based
mechanism for lockout of non-licensed games.

Marty

On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 12:14 PM, Andrew Armstrong <andrew at aarmstrong.org> wrote:

> Henry,

>

> I read the main guts of it on Ars, I thought about posting it but it seemed

> like there wasn't much videogame related stuff - not like there was

> explicitly previously at least. I won't say the UK situation is any better,

> our copyright laws right now don't allow us to legally rip CD's yet...mmm.

>

> http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/07/apple-loses-big-in-drm-ruling-jailbreaks-are-fair-use.ars

>

> It's good news though if you think it applies to videogames; should we put

> something more permanent on the wiki about this? It'd be at least worth

> noting for posterity and also commenting on how absurd the situation is.

>

> Andrew

>

> On 04/08/2010 17:35, Henry Lowood wrote:

>

> All (sending to both NDIIPP and IGDA groups):

>

> I just checked the Copyright Office's announcement, and it includes two

> other relevant exemptions:

>

> source: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/

>

> exemptions 4 and 5 are relevant to game preservation, though not big winners

> -- they open up some interesting doors. Depending on how "dongle" is

> definied, 5 could actually be quite helpful (similar language was in the old

> videogame exemption that expired). Also, and this is a stretch, I wonder if

> 4 might be a way to copy MMO server-side software, in that you would have to

> address the user authentication system?  To be honest, I'm not sure what a

> use case for that exemption would be. Any ideas?

>

> text:

>

> The Librarian of Congress has announced the classes of works subject to the

> exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological

> measures that control access to copyrighted works. Persons making

> noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject

> to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. §

> 1201(a)(1)) until the conclusion of the next rulemaking.

>

> (1) Motion pictures on DVDs that are lawfully made and acquired and that are

> protected by the Content Scrambling System when circumvention is

> accomplished solely in order to accomplish the incorporation of short

> portions of motion pictures into new works for the purpose of criticism or

> comment, and where the person engaging in circumvention believes and has

> reasonable grounds for believing that circumvention is necessary to fulfill

> the purpose of the use in the following instances:

>

> (i)  Educational uses by college and university professors and by college

> and university film and media studies students;

> (ii) Documentary filmmaking;

> (iii) Noncommercial videos.

>

> (2) Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute

> software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole

> purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have

> been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset.

>

> (3) Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used

> wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications

> network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the

> computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications

> network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the

> network.

>

> (4) Video games accessible on personal computers and protected by

> technological protection measures that control access to lawfully obtained

> works, when circumvention is accomplished solely for the purpose of good

> faith testing for, investigating, or correcting security flaws or

> vulnerabilities, if:

>

> (i)  The information derived from the security testing is used primarily to

> promote the security of the owner or operator of a computer, computer

> system, or computer network; and

> (ii) The information derived from the security testing is used or maintained

> in a manner that does not facilitate copyright infringement or a violation

> of applicable law.

>

> (5) 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; and

>

> (6) Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook

> editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by

> authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling

> either of the book’s read-aloud function or of screen readers that render

> the text into a specialized format.

>

> --

> Henry Lowood

> Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

>   Film & Media Collections

> HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

> Stanford University Libraries, Stanford CA 94305-6004

> 650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood

>

> _______________________________________________

> game_preservation mailing list

> game_preservation at igda.org

> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>

> _______________________________________________

> game_preservation mailing list

> game_preservation at igda.org

> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>

>