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It is now legal for consumers and repair companies to break the DRM protections of an electronic device to fix it, according to a US Copyright Office decision.
The rules are part of the recently enacted DMAA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) exemptions that prohibit circumvention of digital rights management (DRM) protections used to protect copyrighted works.
Every three years, the Copyright Office decides on applications for new exemptions or the cancellation of existing exceptions.
The new decision, which will come into effect on October 28, affects the legality of professional owners and repairers by bypassing access controls on devices for specific purposes, for example, for repairs, dismantling, unlocking from a carrier network device, accessibility and training.
The decision covers a range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, mobile hotspots, wearable devices, smart TVs, vehicles, including cars and tractors, as well as smart appliances such as refrigerators, Nest type appliances and HVAC systems.
See: IOS 11 Tips and Tricks for Professionals (Free PDF)
Specifically, the rules allow you to bypass the access control functions to maintain or repair them.
The Copyright Office explains that the reparations exemptions cover "computer programs contained in a legally acquired motorized land vehicle, such as a personal automobile, a utility vehicle or a mechanized agricultural vehicle, and that controls the operation of it, except in the case of programs accessible through a separate subscription service, where the bypass is a necessary step to allow the diagnosis, repair or lawful modification of a vehicle function. "
Security researchers are also exempt from the rules when hacking computer programs, such as e-voting systems, to the extent that the activity is exercised in good faith and does not violate the law on fraud and misuse. computer abuse.
Jailbreaking smartphones was already licensed under existing exemptions, and this situation has been expanded to include smart speakers, such as Google Home devices and Amazon Echo.
Although defenders of the right to remedy have welcomed the exemptions, there are still practical limitations and contradictory elements.
As the motherboard points out, businesses have struggled to get the tools they need to repair devices and set up barriers that make it difficult to get around the manufacturer's restrictions, even if it's difficult. now legal to circumvent them.
For example, the recently discovered fault detector in MacBook Pro could be used by Apple to repair a device if it was repaired by an unauthorized repair shop.
In addition, the Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress, says that it can not derogate from a rule making it illegal to manufacture or provide tools that may be used to violate systems of protection of copyright.
As Cory Doctorow says: "You are allowed to jailbreak your iPhone, but no one is allowed to give you a jailbreak tool on iPhone, and if you create a tool for your own use, you can not share it or even tell others how it works. "
A worker is trying to repair an iPhone in a repair shop in New York.
Image: Eduardo Munoz / Reuters
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