[FYI] Garage door makers battle over DMCA
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/32684.html
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Garage door makers battle over DMCA
By Kieren McCarthy
Posted: 05/09/2003 at 15:12 GMT
It says something when a Google search on 'DCMA' (Digital Millennium
Copyright Act) produces the Anti-DCMA site at the top of the list.
"The DMCA is being used to silence researchers, computer scientists
and critics. Corporations are using it against the public," the site
states, before going into some detail about the infamous clause that
it is a crime to "circumvent" copyright protection systems.
Since the law was passed by the US Congress in 1998, concerns been
raised every year that it is being widely abused by companies to
restrict competition, control markets and keep prices high. Many
since 1998 have asked: "Just how far can this go?"
Well, now we know. The DMCA has finally found a buffer.
And it came in a court case at the end of August: Chamberlain Group
vs Skylink Technologies. Never heard of them, you say? How could you
not know about some of the finest purveyors of automatic garage-door
openers?
Yes, Chamberlain Group launched a case against its rival Skylink
under the DMCA because the company was making compatible garage door
openers. So, you buy your garage door opening system from Chamberlain
and lose the remote control. Fortunately, a control from Skylink will
also open the door. Great, but in order to offer this service, says
Chamberlain, Skylink circumvented access controls to a computer
program in Chamberlain's opener.
Skylink claimed conversely that since the person that uses the
control actualy owns the garage and the door opener, they have a
lawful right to access the computer program however they want.
Yes, this is how bad things have got.
But there is a sort of silver lining to this legal cloud in the form
of District Court judge Rebecca Pallmeyer. If a judge were to say
"bollocks", that is what she would have come out with. Instead we
have to settle with: "The homeowner has a legitimate expectation that
he or she will be able to access the garage even if his transmitter
is misplaced or malfunctions."
Can you imagine a world where every electronic item you possess would
legally have to be accessed using a piece of equipment from a
particular manufacturer? Well, you nearly had to.
There is some sanity in the world then. ®
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