Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Saturday March 10 2018, @11:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the people-are-DMCA-circumvention-devices-too dept.

The US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits devices and software that can be used to circumvent digital restrictions, no matter how trivial the restrictions. A new slide deck from the US Department of Homeland Security (warning for PDF) states that the overall number of copyright-, patent-, trademark-related seizures increased by 8% last year. Though much of it was from traditional counterfeit goods, there were some hints at something more problematic regarding interpretation of the rules:

New data released by Homeland Security shows that U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized significantly more DMCA circumvention devices in 2017. The seizures, which includes mod chips for gaming consoles, increased 324% compared to the year before, although the actual number remains fairly low.

[...] What we did notice is that the International Intellectual Property [sic] Alliance (IIPA) recently framed streaming boxes as possible circumvention tools. The strong enforcement focus of rightsholders on these devices may have been communicated to border patrols as well.

Again, there is no word yet on what the border staff actually consider to be circumvention technologies.

From TorrentFreak : U.S. Border Seizures of DMCA Circumvention Devices Surges
and the Washington Examiner : US customs agencies seize $1.2B in counterfeit imports as illegal goods market continues to grow.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Sunday March 11 2018, @02:00AM

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Sunday March 11 2018, @02:00AM (#650733)

    VHS camcorders, tape recorders, VCRs

    They already are. They don't use the word "ban" and it is not an absolute ban. Instead propaganda campaigns have taught people these "contain hazardous chemicals", "contain hazardous voltages", not to mention "old", "unfashionable", and so on. Do your American duty and "recycle", it's good for teh planet! And manufacturer's wallets!

    I'm honestly surprised that thrift stores are permitted to re-sell them. Many areas already have rules against re-selling computers or certain kinds of computer equipment (such as those "dangerous" CRTs). Point is, it is not much of a stretch to see them extend such rules to other kinds of devices.

    That said, I can happily record any program from my OTA TV box to good old VHS video tape and not have to worry much about DRM or copy protection (supposedly a flag can enable macrovision crap but I have never seen it). Of course, there is nothing worth recording any more anyway.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Insightful=1, Interesting=1, Total=2
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   4