The Digital Millennium Copyright Act!

 

 

What It Says

 

Sec. 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems

`(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that--

An Example

On July 17, 2001, the FBI arrested Dmitry Sklyarov, a Russian computer science student for an alleged violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). He delivered a speech in a Las Vegas about his company’s application.

The application addressed in the speech bypasses Adobe eBooks security only if you have previously purchased the eBook. Furthermore, it allows the purchaser to backup their eBook, read the eBook on a platform other than Windows and is useful to the Blind. Adobe had him arrested. The FBI was a customer.

Since when are people arrested for pointing out a flaw? Free Speech allows someone to critize and/or demonstrate flaws within corporate products.   One of the flaws was their use of ROT-13 encryption, among others.

What is ROT-13?

Plain text:
This is your protection on Adobe eBooks.

Encrypted:
Guvf vf lbhe cebgrpgvba ba Nqbor rObbxf.

You rotate the letters in the alphabet 13 positions. 'B' the second letter becomes 'O' the fifteenth letter. Most people use it for fun, not protection.